Spring Fever
by Aura Depths
Summary: Part 1: What happens when Sesshomaru's rudely shoved out of his lifestyle to experience a new way of living? Many say it's not OOC, good writing, cute, hilarious, and worth reading. Sess POV, predominantly an adventure fic and builds to romance. SessxKag
1. Madness and Fever

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Inuyasha series.

**A/N:** Alright, I'm starting this story at the ending of the manga chapter 551, because the next one has yet to come out (at the time of my writing this) and I got the idea, so in case you want some history to the story, go to my bio/profile and open the link.

Other than that, I'll be making references to the manga in this, so expect to be either curious or confused. :P The last thing that happens in that chapter (SPOILER!! The rest of this paragraph is a spoiler!!) is Naraku's desperate attempt to take out Kaede's village with his body, because he's dying even with the jewel in him, and Sesshomaru's even there to help the gang out, so it's fun! REALLY drawn out and long, but fun! Also, earlier on, Tenseiga was broken by Tetsusaiga and absorbed, but I'm ignoring that little fact... :P

It's pretty open ended after that (so far) and my mind wanted to fill that ending, so here we are

**Note:** This story is completely Sesshomaru's point of view, alright? Read and enjoy!! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

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**Chapter 1**

**Madness and Fever**

The slight scowl on Sesshomaru's face deepened with every step he took. Why was his infernal sword leading him to that village? Maybe it was drawing him towards something _near_ the village and he wouldn't have to dirty his shoes with the dust kicked up by the humans…

Regrettably though, he had an idea of what the sword wanted of him, and it certainly was not what he wanted. The nuisance seemed to be contained, why was he needed? He never got too far away from the village it seemed.

That village...

Sesshomaru was there during the final battle with Naraku, and saw his demise. That despicable hanyou was now dead, and had tried to take everyone with him to his grave, including the tiny village and Sesshomaru himself. What a lowly being to sustain itself with the Jewel just long enough to kill others. To kill one's foes Sesshomaru could understand, and even a village of humans he could brush off his shoulder and forget about, but for some reason it didn't settle well with him.

Thus were his thoughts as he neared, and Tenseiga was practically dancing in its sheath as it guided Sesshomaru closer. The slivered moon overhead helped to hide the fact that Sesshomaru was full out glaring at nothing now. If that blade was not an heirloom of his father's he'd have been done with it _long_ ago.

The spring night breeze presented itself to him, and along with the continued smell of his maddened demonic half brother it bore the sweet and tangible scent of fever.

Sesshomaru stopped dead in his tracks, and Tenseiga paused, seeming confused, before violently leaping at the inugami daiyōkai's hip.

"You test your power, Tenseiga," Sesshomaru informed, beginning to walk away. The sword unsheathed itself and shot like a steel star against the night and straight into the village. Sesshomaru hesitated only a moment before chasing after it.

The sword was, if only to be annoying, faster than himself, and decided to enter a small lodging before sinking to a stop in the floor. Sesshomaru sliced the cheap hanging wood of a door off, and it fell with a wild clatter at his leather boots.

Maddened red eyes met his own placid golden ones.

Inuyasha let out a low growl, finding his feet and giving the enchanted chains around his wrists an inch of slack. They were secured impressively to the ceiling, as were the links of metal around the hanyou's feet to the floor. For good reason, too.

The corrupt boy let out a snarl and tried to leap at Sesshomaru, who watched nonchalantly as the chains extended to their limit and swung the hanyou back to his upright resting place. Minor sutra burns still lingered on his cheek and clothes, and a minute amount of blood lay dry and out of reach of his tongue on his chin. Tetsusaiga lay mere feet away, but glowed with an evil aura, pulsing in response to it's brother's proximity. Tenseiga beat merrily in reply.

'_They failed in purifying the blade,'_ Sesshomaru thought to himself, his right palm enclosing around his sword and yanking it up. Or rather, trying to yank it up. Tenseiga refused to leave, and stuck to the hut as Tetsusaiga had in his father's grave. He tried to yank it free again, and glared with displeasure at the disobedient utensil. Why did his father leave him that burden?

Sesshomaru straightened and let his hands hang at his sides. Apparently Tenseiga was not needed. "What would you have me do?" he asked, at a lost.

The sword pulsed twice, and stilled. He glared at it until his attentions were caught by heavy breathing.

Stepping to the side of the window, the daiyōkai glanced out into the clear darkness, eyes detecting the most minute traces of light. The monk who traveled with his pathetic half brother was jogging towards a dimly lit home, his shoulders burdened with the weight of two buckets of water. Sesshomaru had a passing curiosity as to why the human was making such efforts at that hour of the morning, but then it passed and he looked away from the window.

Tenseiga pulsed, demanding the attention of its master. Closing his eyes so he could roll them Sesshomaru slipped out the door and discretely went to the home, his presence masked and patience ticking. Again he found a window, but it was closed to the outside. Making a quick circle, he found all of the windows to be closed, and he was not about to stand outside the door to look through the cheap wooden strips that covered it. His present actions were galling enough.

He was ready to go back and cut a hole around his sword and walk off with it like that, but he decided to stay and listen. He wasn't going to be dragged all that way for nothing.

"How's her fever?" the monk asked, grunting as he set down the water buckets with two solid thuds.

"It's still high," came the voice of Kohaku's sister, the slayer. The boy, after the final battle with Naraku, told his sister in person that he wanted to travel with the inugami for a while longer. Sesshomaru had the impression that the boy had developed feelings for his charge, Rin. For being at such a tender age, Rin had already died twice, and it would be impossible to revive her again. Sesshomaru was not going to let her wander until she was mature enough to do so. She needed protection. Not that he would ever admit that aloud.

"How long do you think she has?" the monk questioned. Sesshomaru heard the shifting of fabric, bubbles rising from it being submerged, and small pouring splashes as it was wrung out. They were trying to reduce the fevered one's temperature, and from what he gathered it was the young priestess who had given Naraku the fatal blow. He had left soon after Naraku's downfall, returning to his companions who were waiting safely out of range. That was only at midday, and now his stubborn blade had dragged him back to that miserable excuse for a village. It was his brother's sword that had been tainted by the jewel, not the miko. Why did she fall ill? Why did he care? Why didn't he just let Tenseiga stay there for the rest of its unnatural existence and be done with it? That could work. Have an innocent demon blade in the center of a human village, they'd love it.

There was a delusional moan from inside, and he could almost see the girl turning in pain, her skin pale and damp from the fever. It was sickening to think about.

He stood, ready to make that hole in the floor, when a snippet of conversation reached him.

"The bite is looking worse."

_'So that's it,'_ he thought. '_She's sick from Inuyasha's bite. The fool.'_

Tenseiga pulsed in greeting to its master.

"We are leaving," he told it, securing the hilt in his grip and yanking. The sword gave way, but tested Sesshomaru's flexibility in the wrist with a jerk towards the hanyou like a child yanking at his sleeve, an all too familiar feeling. Sesshomaru looked at the beast that was related to him. Why not, he could use the feel of cutting the burden down.

Inuyasha cried out in apparent pain when the sword sliced from his left shoulder and to his right leg, lurching in his binds. Sesshomaru watched the red melt from the boy's eyes and his wounds disappear before the breath left him and his head slumped down with his body, unconscious.

"Pitiful," he commented, moving to sheath Tenseiga. The sword protested in turn with Tetsusaiga's cry for help, the Shikon no Tama still buried in its transformed length. Sesshomaru pressed the tip of Tenseiga against his father's other sword, and slowly the blades merged, Tenseiga dipping into its brother like it would into a lake. Stroking the side of the Jewel with the Blade of Heaven, Sesshomaru flicked his wrist and Tenseiga sent it rolling across the room. He picked up the sword he once sought to be his own, it crackling in his demon grip as it transformed to its relic self, and he placing it in its sheath still at his brother's hip. He wouldn't turn into a demon again any time soon.

Although Tenseiga whined and complained as much as a sword could, claiming that there was unfinished business yet to take care of, Sesshomaru left. He had far better things to do than muddle in the business of the hanyou's pack of humans.

Still, the scent of a scared and ill priestess would not leave him no matter the distance he traveled, and despite how utterly sickening it was it called to him, beckoning for him to relieve the human of her pain.

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**A/N:** Hello! Just wanted to say that if you liked it, please review, because I'm not continuing unless I get 5 reviews. I'm on here to know how well I write and to improve it, not just to entertain random readers, so no reviews (depending on the hits) tells me that it's bad writing and I will drop the time waster and move on. I know, that's abrupt and possibly even crude to some, but that's the way I am :P Review please! I welcome suggestions on where this story can go! Or, where it shouldn't go… -shrugs- Advise me! That's why I'm here! : )


	2. Contagious

**A/N:**Well, I had posted chapter 1, re-read it for errors, browsed the internet, checked my stats and got a review! Within about half an hour even! Un-freakin-believable. So, I started writing chapter two, and now that it's written it might as well be posted. That's for the quick review!

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**Chapter 2**

**Contagious**

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open and he sat up from against the tree with a start, the pale light of unbroken morning greeting him. His golden orbs opened even wider at the realization that he had fallen asleep. With a most unfavorable dream no less. Controlling his rapid breathing, he placed the back of his hand against his brow and felt that he was indeed sweating. ... Why?

Tenseiga hummed innocently at his side.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed with spite. His father's sword was as audacious as the demon himself had been, and didn't seem at all troubled in guiding its current master to dream two despicable things. Two very despicable and very frightening things. First that he was ill, and second that he _very _was human and _very _mortal. There should be no mercy for combining the two either…

Sesshomaru heard a yawning Jaken approach, and calming quickly he watched as the toad wearily bowed to his Lord.

"Is Rin fed?" Sesshomaru asked, standing. His voices had faltered slightly from his dry throat, but it went unnoticed. Perhaps he'd let them go fishing with Tenseiga then leave it in the bottom of the river to find its own way to the ocean.

"Mm, my Lord wants to leave early today?" Jaken asked groggily, resisting another yawn and rubbing his overly large yellow eyes.

"By late morning," Sesshomaru replied, walking off. They had an appointment, so to speak.

When it comes to dreams, the bad thing is that you can't control them. To make them worse would be to have a usually inanimate object sending you messages while you slept. Come to think of it, he hadn't even planned on going to sleep that night…

The sword hummed again.

"You test your power, Tenseiga," Sesshomaru quoted himself from yesterday, his tone of voice a deathly warning.

As he approached the village to get rid of the source of Tenseiga's pestering, sword seeming happy by this outcome and remaining quiet, last night's dream replayed itself vividly in his mind.

Quite possibly the worse part was his inability to see. He couldn't open his eyes the entire time, but could tell there were people around him, audaciously touching his face and shifting the blankets over his body, which was shivering from the immense heat coursing through it and erratic nerves. If boiling water could replace blood, it did, and it beat heavily against his ears and echoed in his mind, willing him to insanity of sickness. He wanted to leap into a lake in full nude and sink to the deepest, coldest abyss it could offer. But just thinking of it made the fever all the more unbearable, and his arm throbbed with a most urgent pain, churning his stomach which felt filled with shattered glass. Just breathing brought bouts of agony, and if it rendered him unconscious the next breath would most certainly jolt him awake, creating an endless and vicious cycle of hell and imprisonment in a body attempting to fight, but dying.

Sesshomaru had never been sick before, and never, _ever_, wanted to be.

But this girl could not possibly be suffering as badly as he had been in his own mind. No human would endure it.

He momentarily thought of Rin being sick like that, then forced the idea away and grapple quickly for something else to occupy his mind.

As he mentioned, the pain was not the only thing that was terrible about that dream. Along with lack of sight, he could neither speak nor move, and he didn't know who it was touching him. It was terrible to know you were so weakened that you would allow someone to lift your head for a drink. And what was worse is that they didn't, and he wanted them to. It felt like he had been staring at the sun for hours with an open mouth, and the thought of a quenched thirst seemed all too merciful for the present conditions. No, a dry tongue was fine. It would all quickly transform into sweat and insulate him even more anyway.

His claws dug into his palms for where these thoughts were going. How disgraceful. He was the Lord of the Western Lands, not an ill mortal about ready to experience his own mortality. He has lived through many generations of human filth, and would live for many more, and dreaming of being one of the blinks of a lifetime within his own was an utter waste of time and concern.

The breath of nature welcomed him and he balked, placing a hand over his stomach when the scent of illness hit him square in the face, announcing his proximity to the village where his half-brother stayed. It was more horrid than before and made him taste copper, his throat clenching and stomach quivering with anxiety. It was times like these he envied humans and their incompetence when it came to the senses.

Speaking of, his ears could detect agonized whimpering and frantic discussion, luring him to a destination. What he gathered before stepping out of the woods was that the fever had gotten worse and Inuyasha wasn't back yet from 'Kagome's time'. What did they mean by that?

He was paused at the edge of the forest not ten arm spans from the nearest shabby residence, Tenseiga urging him on.

"You truly want me to go in there," he addressed the blade, hearing the revolted ring in his words. It was confirmed, and Sesshomaru walked into the invisible circle of the village and towards the small house of illness like it was every day business in his own home… His huge, well maintained, illness free home. The only difference was his servants were temporarily grungy humans who gave up bowing for dropped their things with shock and running in the opposite direction like rats, and his mother was not keeping an annoying eye on every little thing he chose to indulge in. To think some wondered why he preferred the country side, it should seem obvious.

Another woman spotted him, smelling of caked on filth and looking the part, and fled. Disgusting.

As he approached the location he heard a wooden utensil drop inside, and before he was even twenty feet away from the steps the monk and slayer barged out, weapons in hand.

It was delightful to see how wide a humans eyes could open. They seemed even more shocked than his most recent.

"S-Sesshomaru?" the monk asked, completely dumbfounded.

"What do you want Sesshomaru?" the slayer demanded. "We are dealing with a sick person, this is no time for a fight."

Well, at least she knew he was honorable enough to not make attacks on the weak.

"The miko is ill," he stated, not really knowing what to say. The situation was odd for both parties, and a very broken sword was going to be the result of the encounter.

He expected them to attack, but instead they shared a glance, looked at him, then at one another again. The monk shrugged, and they stepped aside.

They MUST be desperate to allow him, a demon lord, in so easily. That or planning to stab him in the kidneys, but they'd die before shifting to make the move. He brushed the 'door' aside, and was nearly floored by the odor which attacked his sensitive nose all too happily. He looked down at the young woman laying on the floor near the two water buckets, one completely empty and the other with about four inches remaining. She had a thin blanket over her, and it was damp in places from perspiration.

His dream started to plague both his mind and body as he watched her laying helplessly on her back, unable to move and panting frantically, throat obviously dry inside from a night of laboring for air, and she covered in a sheen of sweat with eyes wincing, silently begging for help. She took an especially deep breath and a ragged cry interrupted it.

He stopped looking at her to cease feeling sick. The sight was so familiar it was enough to haunt, and that was remarkable to bring about in himself.

This was ridiculous. Perhaps he should just kill her and end matters there. However, there was still the matter of the Jewel, which sat on a small cloth near the corner of the room, far from the miko and under a layered barrier. Its contents swirled darkly, calling out to the weak with tantalizing promises of power. It was a completed Shikon no Tama now, and waiting to utilize its powers.

"I don't know what brings you here," the monk began, suddenly snapping Sesshomaru's attentions away from the calling Jewel. The slayer was at the miko's side and drew from the bucket a rag, squeezing it and settling the cloth over the girl's forehead. "But if it is not to help, then I will ask you to leave."

"How long has she been like this?" Sesshomaru asked, trying to sound perfectly normal as he became aware once more of the atmosphere and his stomach began to leap with sickened giddiness.

His question seemed to take the humans aback. And it should. The only reason he gave them any of his attention was because of that infernal sword. Of course he wasn't _wanting_ to help, nor sympathizing with the girl, who was miraculously still alive and probably needed to have those buckets filled and upended over her immediately…

"She passed out early last evening," the slayer informed. "This is the worse she's been, and it started when the stars were beginning to dull.

That time span made him want to cringe, but he quickly collected himself and suppressed all unneeded senses; primarily smell and compassion. Why did Naraku leave them with this? If he hadn't shot the tainted Shikon into Inuyasha's sword this wouldn't be happening. And if it were happening to anyone, _anyone, _other than the protector of that forsaken Jewel he was sure to never be involved with such unimportant matters no matter how much the sharpened rod of metal and power strapped at his side griped over it. But, it _was_ the miko, and since he nor anyone worthy enough would make the wish and destroy the Jewel without becoming tainted, it needed a protector. A very _not_ dying protector, and if she died then he was stuck with miko recruitment duities in his terrain to watch over the dangerous artifact, and that did not sound delightful in the least.

This was sure to give him a splendid headache. "Then why does she remain here in her condition?"

They blinked at him.

"Submerge her in the stream and let her drink to reduce her temperature."

The humans were quite surprised.

"Then she could die of hypothermia," the monk stated.

"'Could' is a better outcome than 'will', in terms of this fever," Sesshomaru informed. Why was he there… Did he have to be there? His sword was going to regret this. This was the most he's spoken to humans on any given day, and that's counting with Rin. That little joyous chatter box could supplement his need to talk just fine. Also, these were the companions of his embarrassment of a half brother, he should never need to or indulge talking with them.

That headache was starting to prick itself a nice spot right between his eyes.

"Our thanks," the monk stated a little while later, standing next to the daiyōkai as the slayer carried the miko into the stream. "I can't see a reason for you to try and harm us, so thank you for your assistance."

The gratitude was given. He was free.

Tenseiga became alarmed when Sesshomaru walked away, but what else could that sword want him to do? The miko was not his friend, and even for a friend he would be hard pressed to show bed side manners. He was an aristocratic assassin, not a caretaker, and if nature claimed the ill female that instant he wouldn't even bat an eyelash over it.

He felt the eyes of the humans on him as he took his leave. Hopefully it would be a last.

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**A/N:** Hehe, another short chapter, yes. I'm aiming for a few more reviews before updating again, so please tell me how this is so far!


	3. A Broken Fever and Worsening Conditions

**A/N:** Well, I got five reviews! Here's chapter three, and I don't know how long I can update this regularly... Read, enjoy, review!

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**Chapter 3**

**A Broken Fever and Worsening Conditions**

For the next three days Tenseiga chattered tirelessly at the daiyōkai's waist, anxiously awaiting the breeching of his breaking point in terms of patience. Several times now Rin has asked ridiculous questions, such as whether or not the Lord Sesshomaru had decided to shove mice into the sheath for its immense jostling. Jaken was hard pressed in his scolding to not chuckle ever so softly at the very thought.

Of course, even if the toad randomly fell over and gave his last croak of laughter, Sesshomaru wouldn't notice. He had other things plaguing his mind, literally, and how they got there was an injustice in and of itself. It was impossible for the retainer and human child to know that the sword's physical antics were only part of the package. Oh no, if hopping from a belt was all the fuss was about, then Sesshomaru would have no trouble in handling it. Apparently though, some visual aid was required. So much so at times that he lost sight of the path and had to stop walking, confusing his companions for the sudden delay. Well, let them be confused, he wasn't ready to walk into a few trees over it. For that reason alone, they had been now for two days resting in a field, their journey halted.

Rin of course loved it.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken cried in a pleading tone, running over to the slight hill where his lord stood, the tall green grass covering all but the squat demon's hat and the staff. He stabbed said weapon into the ground and scrambled up onto the two heads at the top, himself positively littered with flowers. "May I inquire as to when we can move on, my L-WOAH!!"

"Master Jaken, you MUST see these!!" Rin giggled excitedly, staff in hand and toad demon bouncing at its top and away with his happy human captor.

Sesshomaru would have smirked at that if not for the unrighteous racket in his mind. He didn't even see the two just then. Sure he heard and smelled them, but Tenseiga was being an appropriate heirloom and reminder of his father; a royal pain.

Even with his eyes open he could see it. Not only the highly disturbing dream he had had nights ago, but also the scenes the sword decided to entertain him with. It depicted him being banished to the outskirts of his territories, a demon now possessing the Shikon no Tama and reining over his lands. Then that miko came, trying from an ignored distance to slay the evil with her spiritual powers, as she had done to Naraku, but her injury had yet to heal and her illness was still taking a high toll on her. She was too weak to lift her weapon, and completely useless. She disappeared then, the jewel becoming fully tainted and the lands becoming corrupt. Demons of lesser cause rose and tore through villages which had forgotten who ruled their lands, and shall never remember. The territory of the great dog demon, Lord of the West, shall be forgotten, and all other lands with it. The demons would consume all the humans but the lucky and powerful, and then consume one another, falling into a hungry chaos and merging around the jewel, finally becoming too large to sustain and seeping into the ground, awaiting the future to populate itself and to awaken the sole surviving demon known as Apocalypse once more.

Like that would ever happen...

Sesshomaru shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. The sword's fairytale was preposterous. After three days of watching it unravel over and over again Sesshomaru finally asked what the hell it wanted of him _this _time.

His vision instantly cleared, and he winced his eyes slightly at the 'sudden' exposure to light. Tenseiga was back to its original calling beat, attempting to tug its master along like a spoiled servant brat tugging a parent to the market.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru addressed the toad demon a few minutes later, witnessing his seated, disgruntled pose as Rin merrily added a purple crown of flowers to his floral display. It was enough to jar the eyes.

The toad stood immediately and bowed, the new head garment falling. "Yes my Lord?"

"Watch over Rin."

Jaken gave him a mortified expression, then hid it with a bow of the head. "Yes Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Rin," Sesshomaru addressed next, watching as she gave her 'attentive' pose. "Play nicely."

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru!" she replied in a chipper tone. A small cloud of despair settled over the toad demon. "Come on master Jaken! There were some REALLY pretty orange flowers up there a little ways!"

Jaken miserably followed, Ah and Un nibbling the flowers off of him as they tagged along.

Kohaku, having watched things from afar, passed silently by Sesshomaru, offered a quick bow, and jogged after them.

The sun had barely shifted when Sesshomaru arrived at the outskirts of the village. As he continued his approach on foot the scent of the young woman came to him and he glanced around. Where was she?

Surprisingly enough, he found himself looking down an old well for her. The hanyou had traveled with her to that point, and unless they grew wings and fluttered off they randomly disappeared.

"Interesting," he said to himself, moving on. There was still the matter of the Jewel to attend to. Upon seeing the shabby house Sesshomaru let his energy flare, warning the monk and slayer within. They immediately responded and hurried out, faces contorted with suspicion and surprise. They were becoming entertaining to confuse, and he would have acknowledged it if not for his last four days of sword-induced aggravation.

"Oh," the woman breathed, seeming relieved. How disrespectful. "I was thinking the demons were back."

Sesshomaru's interest perked. Demons? And surely she meant low-level demons for not acknowledging him as one.

The monk let out a small chuckle, leaning against the wall. They certainly seemed more comfortably in his presence. He'd have to correct that.

"Where is the Jewel," Sesshomaru demanded more than asked. That certainly cleared the familiarity from the air.

"You too?" the woman retaliated, her grip tightening. Did they really believe they stood the grace of a chance against him?

"Why?" the monk followed up.

Sesshomaru furrowed his brow slightly at them, making them shift to fight.

"Do not assume more than is allotted to you," he snarled, his voice remaining a placid surface of unreadable ice. "If so desired, the Jewel would be in the possession of this Sesshomaru long before your _parents_ were born."

Their expressions cleared somewhat. Yes, Sesshomaru could be seen as a young man in his prime in human terms, but in reality he was born before the Jewel, and even then it held no interest to him; it could call and create all the allure it wanted, but he simply did not need it. He had everything he wanted, and if not, then he had all the power and time to get it. He didn't keep count, his age was of no interest of him after two hundred, but to come to a rough approximation he was seven hundred years old.

"Apologies," the monk stated. "The Shikon has been heavily sought since it separated from Tetsusaiga, and with Kagome in her state she can't purify it."

A mental flash of what he had seen for the last few days played in Sesshomaru's mind. "She remains ill?"

"Well, the fever broke," the woman replied, boomerang hanging against her back, "but it took a lot out of her to counter the shouki from the bite. She just went back home to rest safely, and won't be back for a while."

'A while' would simply not do, and Tenseiga supported the thought. And what was more secure at her home than in the village with her companions? He was ready to demand her location when it was suddenly given to him.

"Inuyasha!" the monk called in surprise.

"Sesshomaru!" the hanyou yelled, trying to hold the barely conscious girl on his back and draw his sword at the same time. He simply couldn't, which was a good thing.

"Inuyasha, why are you here?" the slayer asked.

"Why am I here?!" he replied incredulously, completely affronted. "Why is HE here!!"

The miko on his back remained still save for a small and weak grip on his shoulder, and he growled with frustration. "Fine! I'll be good until he attacks..."

Her hand loosened and she sighed. Sesshomaru could tell she was weak. He wouldn't be surprised if she had just fallen asleep right then. No, she couldn't handle a tainted Jewel. Not yet.

_'Perfect,'_ he thought to himself sarcastically. _'Just perfect.'_

Sesshomaru was invited to share an all-participant discomfort session in the small lodging, hearing why Inuyasha had come back. It was quite the tale, and had Sesshomaru's mind racing.

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**A/N:** Oh yes, I think I like my fanfic. Yes, this is two reviews earlier than what was promised, but I'm bad at keeping my word, especially to myself. Thank you for the motivation to write dear reviewers! :D


	4. Prelude

**A/N:** … I feel like I should be saying something…

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**Chapter 4**

**Prelude**

The inugami daiyōkai was standing to the side of the door and appeared uninterested in the proceedings, his gaze set on the still rising sun. It was going to be a long day if it started off with a story from his half brother, who was acting rather peculiar. It was quite irritating that all of them were trying to keep something secret in this story, even the fox kit who just joined in seemed trained on silence, and things were not made better by the fact that they were succeeding.

"When we got to Kagome's ti-... um, home, there was a strange aura around the Family Shr- ah, shack, where they keep all of her miko things." Inuyasah was a horrible liar... "Anyway, Kagome was pretty out of it still, but I couldn't just leave her in the well, er, well, in the care of herself, and so we ... Sesshomaru, can't you just GO!?"

Sesshomaru regarded him with a glance from the corner of his eye. "I enjoy a story with interesting articulation."

The boy was slowly getting red in the face, palms fisted. He didn't know that Sesshomaru just said 'you're a stammering idiot', but was pretty sure it was an insult. Inuyasha was a predictable one. "Why you...!"

"Getting back to the subject," the monk interjected with a clearing of his throat. "So, you took Kagome with you?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha continued with a sigh, shifting where he stood opposite to Sesshomaru. "Not the best of things to do, but I couldn't just leave without checking on her family, and she needed to be protected. Anyway, I no more than step outside when the thing came running at me. Tetsusaiga couldn't cut it either. The shadow demon _thing_passed right through the blade and then grabbed my haori."

"I thought there weren't any demons in Kagome's time," the little fox stated innocently enough, seeming to contemplate. He gave an impressively wild flinch for his tiny self when realization hit.

There was a dead silence, soon filled with a sound smack and a crying kit. The sick one muttered something and Sesshomaru looked over in genuine surprise when the floor shook and Inuyasha was suddenly in a face-down body plant. Was this normal? If so, it was quite entertaining. What just happened?

"Kagome, how do you feel?" Kohaku's sister asked, scooting a few inches to look at her face. Inuyasha's state seemed to be of no concern.

"Bad," the girl replied as she faced no one but the wall. She sounded like she just gargled sand for a few hours, and coughed over a few grains which refused to leave. This must be the result of moaning in deranged agony for a few days.

"Kagome! Inuyasha hit me again!" the kit yelled, jumping in front of her with tears in his eyes. They were obviously fake, and the girl gave a small chuckle.

"Ready for another round, Shippo?!" Sesshomaru's half brother asked, shooting to his feet. The kit made a well-practiced scream and went running outside, the hanyou close behind.

It was then that the girl asked the monk to make them stop fighting, and for help from the slayer in sitting up. The healthy woman glanced at the religious man, who shrugged before leaving, and helped Kagome in leaning against the wall.

Sesshomaru blinked. The girl was positively haggard looking. Her skin was pale from a lack of nutrition and taunt in the cheeks from dehydration. Her hair, which as he remembered was usually well maintained, had lost most of its sheen and looked to be the new home of some demon mice. The undersides of her eyes were darkened from a lack of sleep, but retained a sane glimmer of normality.

She did offer a fair smile though as she looked at him. "Sorry to like shit," she began crudely with a short and soft rasped giggle, "this is probably not how people tend to greet you. Before Inuyasha gets back, and don't stop me Sango," she interrupted herself, addressing her companion, "I want you to know that I come from the future. It sounds really odd but-" She cut off, coughing harshly into her hand. The slayer handed her some water, and she took a few drinks before continuing, tiny hands shaking from the weight of the ladle. Her voice wasn't made any better though. Sesshomaru found it hard to compare this weak essence to the strong and outspoken woman who defied his desires to kill her so long ago, and who slew Naraku _not_ too long ago. Amazing what one bite could do. "Thanks, Sango. My family lives five hundred years in the future from now, and so far only Inuyasha and I can go through the Bone Eaters Well to travel between times."

"Kagome..." the other cautioned as Sesshomaru mulled this over, arms held in opposing sleeves; apparently the miko wasn't just odd, she was logically challenged as well. Then again it explained their suddenly cut off scents in a well. Was that one the Bone Eaters Well? "Is your fever coming back? Are you tired?"

"I'm fine Sango, really. Sesshomaru can know. He may be mean to Inuyasha but he hasn't tried to harm any of us so far. … Well, not for a while."

The miko brought up a good point, dragging back the memory of their first encounter. And the second. Tenseiga hummed softly, reminding Sesshomaru of something.

"The fox said there are no demons in your time," he commented, focusing their attentions. He'll play along with her nonsensical story for the time being.

"That's right," the girl confirmed hoarsely. "At least none that people can see."

What a bleak sounding future... Demons hiding from a human-controlled world... And he wasn't even another lifetime away from that apparently... If she spoke the truth, that is. She didn't seem to be lying, but one's senses were not always right. Plus, of all things to lie about, surely she could have configured a tale more believable, even in her condition.

The silence stretched. Eventually Sesshomaru was drawn from his mental reprieve when the monk returned, the minutely injured kit staying close behind and Inuyasha following, giving a 'keh' as he reclaimed his post, regarding Sesshomaru with a quick glare.

"Inuyasha," the miko began, eyes closed and chin defiantly lifted, "he knows about the well now."

Sesshomaru was surprised that none of the humans were clutching their ears from the hanyou's sudden and loud demand to know why. What an exasperating mutt.

"It's alright," the miko tried to counter, a small frown on her face. Apparently she wasn't too tired to be peeved.

"Is NOT!" Inuyasha fired back, drawing Tetsusaiga. "I can't believe you told HIM!! Of ALL people, HIM!!"

"Inuyasha," the miko warned, voice grated with irritation let alone abuse.

"Well I'm not saying another WORD on what happened until this jackass is out of ear shot! And speaking of, WHY is he here! I can't believe this, I-!"

"Sit."

Inuyasha hit the floor so quickly that Sesshomaru couldn't enjoy watching the idiot fall.

"That wasn't very nice to do in front of his brother, especially with tonight's occasion," the monk tried to whisper, Sesshomaru easily overhearing it. The 'occasion' was obviously in reference to the new moon, when the hanyou lost his powers. Just because they hated one another didn't mean that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha didn't know some secrets. Well, Sesshomaru was better at keeping them, but he knew Inuyasha's weaknesses well enough.

The miko sniffed with a touch of disdain. "Well, I warned him, and he's being rude. Just because I'm under the weather doesn't mean he can go around hitting and yelling and fighting."

"Kagome…" the hanyou growled through the floorboards.

"Sit."

The wood began to crack around Inuyasha as gravity proved its hatred for him.

"Miroku, would you spare him?"

The monk sighed. "I'm on it."

The rest of the story was told by Kagome, as Inuyasha's mouth was currently sealed with a sacred sutra. Well, he said he wouldn't utter another word so long as Sesshomaru was there, so it only made sense to enforce the resolution for the sake of all. That didn't keep him from rolling across the floor though like a dog with flees as he tried to rip it off. Very entertaining. Sesshomaru would have to provoke the fool more often in the young miko's presence.

He realized what he had suggested, and decided to resume listening to the story. It was his hope to listen, and then be done with his association with the pack of twits.

"-jumped back down the well then," the miko finished. Fabulously brief. There was not much more to cover, merely that Inuyasha freed himself from the hold and leaped backwards into the well again.

"So this was a minor demon?" the monk inquired, pensive.

The miko shook her head. "It wasn't physically powerful, but its aura was outstanding. More so than… Well, than Naraku, certainly."

The miko had given Sesshomaru a wary glance then, which didn't hide anything. She was ready to say she found a demon stronger than himself. However, only two others were stronger, and those were the Lord of the Northern Lands and Lady of the Southern Lands. The Lord of the Eastern Lands was indeed the weakest, but made up for it with talent and forces. Sesshomaru had yet to truly initiate his rightful rein over his father's lands, but was entitled Lord nonetheless. Declaration was not as large a priority for him as others may think. He could easily remove any obstacle in his way if one should try to hinder his claim. For now though, he was still traveling his new domain, it was only logical to do so and announce by scent one's superiority to lesser demons, killing the dumb and rebellious while he was at it.

"It wasn't a real demon though, more like we were fighting a shadow," the miko finished.

"That would explain Tetsusaiga's uselessness, in that situation" the slayer pointed out, choosing her words carefully while in the presence of the son of he who had that blade forged and he who wore it proudly until his untimely death.

"I'm actually very surprised that it attacked," the miko voiced raggedly, changing the track of conversation. "I believe, that that was one of the rare times I've gone home without a part of the Jewel."

"That IS suspicious," the monk confirmed, brow wrinkled by the discovery.

And for once, Sesshomaru found himself agreeing with a human. Here was the miko, charged with the duty of protecting the Shikon no Tama sought by humans and demons alike, who had gathered the pieces dutifully and reclaimed it from the hanyou who wished for it, and when she was weak and bore nothing she was attacked. Perhaps it was coincidence, but something didn't sound right and it grated at Sesshomaru's senses, willing him to puzzle it out. Then again, he had a lot of things to puzzle out of late.

There was a sudden sensation of eyes leering into the room and everyone became attentive. Sesshomaru watched as a ghostly hand reached through the wall and towards the heavily protected Jewel like a moth to a flame. He wasn't worried about it being taken, but those occupying the space other than himself were still in a panic over being watched.

The demon's face appeared, a hideous looking thing that could have just crawled out of the river, and it sneered at Sesshomaru, believing it was going to become an all-powerful entity.

Its hand darted for the Jewel, and then disappeared all the way to its upper arm. Its shriek made Sesshomaru smirk back and the rest jump, and the retreat was made. The unfavorable noise reminded him of Jaken whenever he caught himself on fire. Speaking of, late morning was fast approaching.

"Do you need to know anything else?" the miko inquired as he pushed aside the door.

He made no answer, and left without pause. Perhaps nothing would come of this. An unsettling knot between his shoulder blades told him otherwise.

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**A/N:** This chapter was a little longer than the others...

Hello everyone! I hope this story is becoming more interesting, and I'm aiming to leave you on the edge of your seat by the end of chapter five, because something very unexpected is going to happen. Thanks for reading and please grant me your opinion in a review! :D


	5. In Broad Daylight

**A/N:** I can't believe this story is only twenty two pages so far... I feel like I've been writing for weeks. Which is really sad.

**Note:** Sweetest Angel, you really are sweet for giving me my tenth review at such an ungodly hour of the morning. Ten reviews everyone! You better thank this nocturnal reader and the nocturnal writer because here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :D

**P.S.:** I hope you like cliffies... This chapter is open for editing too.

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**Chapter 5**

**In Broad Daylight**

Tenseiga was having none of this, driving Sesshomaru to do what he did. He needed a few dull hours to find it, but the scent of his home could not hide from him at reasonably close proximity.

"My Lord, please, anything but this!" Jaken cried as they all mounted the stairs of the castle which his mother currently ruled, Rin and Kohaku astride Ah-Un.

"Jaken, silence yourself," Sesshomaru ordered. If the toad thought is was bad, then he didn't know the half of it.

"Back for a visit so soon?"

Everyone looked up at the familiar female inugami daiyōkai who greeted them with inquiry. She had a smug look on her face, cool and implacable like her son's. He returned the look, but she seemed more capable of reading his expressions than others.

"I see. Come then."

Sesshomaru found himself wondering what his companions were up to as he sat and waited for his mother to finish savoring her after-lunch tea. She truly hated being interrupted while she consumed anything, which was why he did it so often as a child. Any emotion other than an unreadable mask or exasperation that crossed her features had been a delight to invoke.

Finishing her little snack she finally regarded her son. "What is the occasion? Your dear little girl seems neither dead nor dying, so why pester me?"

"I am here to conjure a pact of pack," he admitted, stomping out his flaming irritation. She stared at him, hands calmly in her lap, until her eyes widened and she barked a laugh. She waved her hand dismissively in the air, and called over a servant with a snap of her fingers to refill her cup. He smirked at her need for distraction. "It is amusing how you act as though you have a choice in the matter."

A small smile remained on her petite mouth to cover the sneer. She may remain the head of the castle, and his mother, but he was the Lord, and she the subordinate. Those were just the facts, no matter how she hated them.

"You are to acknowledge Jaken and what he has to say, and nothing shall be done without the council's and his approval."

"That little youkai?!" she demanded incredulously. Her hands were quite the opposite of calm now as her nails dug into the arms of the chair.

"Indeed, and I am not finished. Those who arrived with me today are not to be harmed nor abandoned, but housed here and treated as proper pack mates."

"Absurd," she scoffed from behind clenched teeth. "I may not have the hatred for humans that you once had, but my tolerance is no less limited."

"Dare you to challenge me?" he asked. She regained control of her features, her eyes remaining as fiery as ever though. The last time she challenged her son she was bed ridden for a week. It was forgivable though, as everything he did was in accordance to the law of their species. The way to power was with power itself.

The silence stretched and grew taunt.

"Exactly what sort of treatment do you expect to come from the servants who still remember how your father faltered?" she finally asked, snapping the emptiness of the room to attention.

He gave the vaguest of smirks. "They know their fate would be worse than death." And they did. "As would be yours for allowing it to happen."

Her mouth twitched, eyes glaring. Sesshomaru found this debate to be somewhat amusing at seeing how flustered she was over the speed to her losing.

Forgetting her tea completely she leaned her forehead into the comfort of a palm and addressed him again. "How long will I be subject to this new whim of yours?"

"We shall see," was his reply. And it was done.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin greeted cheerily as she ran up to him. "This is a very nice place! There are great flowers here! Want to see?"

"No," he replied, noticing two servants eying the children. When they noticed him noticing they bowed their heads quickly and scurried off.

Rin watched him for a moment. "You're leaving."

He looked down at her, seeing her face solemn as it rarely was. She had easily guessed, and that was not expected. "Yes," he replied. For some reason he wanted a different answer. "For now."

Rin perked somewhat at the addition. "Then I will practice weaving flowers so Jaken looks nice when you come back!"

He gave her a nod and watched as she returned to Kohaku and Ah-Un. The missing member was currently at Sesshomaru's feet, staring tearfully up at him with huge yellow eyes. He didn't have to speak to ask a dreadful 'why,' it was clearly written on his face.

"Take care of them," Sesshomaru ordered. "You are of equal rank with my mother until I return."

The little demon's tears instantly vaporized and his chest swelled with pride. "Thank you my Lord!"

Sesshomaru gathered his youki into a ball around himself, and left the castle post haste. He could trust his comrades to be safe for at least a month there without his supervision, but a month was not the time span he needed to finish the exploration of his territory. In the form he was in now and unhindered by company, he could easily finish in a week.

Of course, by 'company' he was overlooking Tenseiga, which was absolutely intolerable of his sudden solitary decisions and wasn't afraid to share that fact.

The sun had cleared its zenith and began to sink by the time Sesshomaru acknowledged his building exasperation. As he tried to ignore the urgent actions of his sword he picked up a scent. Looking around, he frowned. He was nowhere near the border of the East, which met in the middle of the continent to create a direct division until the territories of the North and South were established. Sesshomaru had already patrolled that entire border and along the ocean coast, and was in the middle of his terrain, but still the scent was there, and it made Sesshomaru go red in the eyes.

Apparently, Lord Bashamon, ruler of the Eastern Lands, decided to invade.

As Sesshomaru abruptly changed direction to 'greet' his power rival the scent of burning and blood reached him. He shot over a lowly village, insignificant bodies littering the ground and aflame like the buildings. What was Bashamon thinking? He was here alone, and he was provoking Sesshomaru. Did he want to die?

Tenseiga was oddly silent at Sesshomaru's side as he followed a fairly clear path of scorched terrain and diminished towns, his fury building and swirling with his youki, wanting release. And release it would have. Bashamon had taken his true form as he flew for-

Sesshomaru almost fell right out of his energy ball and into the canopy of the forest when realization hit him like a nasty, flying bug right in the face. ARGH! What _was_ it with that forsaken village?! Bashamon could pluck it right from the earth and HAVE it! There were no substantial supplies of anything to claim, no important people to kill, just a hand full of bakas who decided to travel with an appropriate baka leader and a tainted Shikon no Tama!!

Oh...

Well, that answered something... He made sure to double check if he was indeed going as quickly as he could, and was displeased when he realized he was. Of course, going faster would only mean arriving three seconds sooner.

Sesshomaru recieved the scene of Bashamon, in the form of an insanely large black scaled dragon, banging his fists against and clawing at the surprisingly strong barrier which was erected over the last lodging remaining. The barrier quivered in pain with every blow, and Bashamon had his fists raised once more until Sesshomaru transformed in mid-flight and barreled into the lord.

It was not as satisfying as he had hoped to sink his deadly fangs under the scales of the dragon's neck, making Bashamon's shriek gargle in his throat as he landed on his back. Sesshomaru had miscalculated the bite. It was not high enough to prevent the Lord from cranking his head and spewing liquid fire at him.

Sesshomaru was forced to back off, and Bashamon regained his footing immediately. Something was different about the Eastern Lord. He could not breathe fire before, and his blood tasted different. That, and his appearance had changed. The dragon was nearly twice Sesshomaru's height now, mostly in the neck which was a disappointment. To attack the bastard's heart he would have to expose himself to the head, which was simply impossible to sever with those scales in the way. Said scales were now on end like the feathers of a bathing bird. Then there was that tail, which was barbed on the upper side. Sesshomaru was usually impervious to poison, but with enough stabs and scrapes from those spines and he would begin to waver.

Not that he didn't have enough of his own poison to fight back with.

Bashamon lowered his head, the customary position for fire spitting, and Sesshomaru leaped out of the way when the dragon's nostrils glowed with the flame to come. He moved only slightly to the side before lunging for the opening. He knew that Bashamon's neck and body were fixated while breathing the living magma, as all dragons are bound to do, so the only thing he had to worry about was the tail.

Mid jump though, something happened. Something very bad. The dragon moved his back legs, pivoted on the front, and greeted his opponent with a brilliant cloud of scorching light.

It required a considerable amount of energy for Sesshomaru to catch himself in the air and fall out of the way. Not his most graceful of moves, but at least his fur had not been lit like dry tinder.

The great inugame realized another miscalculation when a painful series of stabs lined the side of his rib cage and across his chest. He screamed angrily, voice squeaking at the end for the sudden flow of toxins in his right side. He flipped away, and if he had failed to grow back his arm not too long ago he would have fallen for the sudden loss of feeling in his right.

The dragon shook himself, laughing, scales glistening in the weakening sunlight and clattering with the gesture and sounding like an avalanche of crisp leaves. Sesshomaru bared his fangs at him, shaking his right leg to renew its liveliness. His saliva dripped over his mighty lower jaw and melting the ground it landed upon. Too bad it would run off of Bashamon's scales... To fight a dragon required many techniques, and since their last encounter it seemed Bashamon had gained more than Sesshomaru. Undoubtedly, not good.

Both Lords were taken aback at the swell of spiritual powers not too far away, and Bashamon was made to retreat as the arrow which bore them came streaking for his eye.

_Now_. Sesshomaru sprang forth, catching his enemy right were the jaw merged with the neck. This is where he needed to attack, where Bashamon was most vulnerable. His fangs tucked under scales, chipping them away from the tender flesh which held them, and he could smell the hot blood right beneath the skin. Something, however, had him securely grasped by the mouth, throat and chest, and flung him away.

Sesshomaru was thinking that the sunny world really did not need to spin as much as it was currently doing, because he had to concentrate. He felt his youki shift out from his control though, and the fall was made considerably longer when his body reverted to its humanoid form, the poisons suddenly flaring to life.

His bones jarred against his muscles when he landed, and if hitting the ground wasn't bad enough then he heard, and most certainly felt, the distinct crack of wood against his back, and for some mystifying and also very unneeded reason this wood seemed almost impossible to break. Good, let's try to do it with one's spine.

Sesshomaru's vision was flashing searing white warning lights, accompanied by ringing sirens, for the first time in centuries, his head reeling and front burning. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't handle a fully transformed daiyōkai's poison as well in his humanoid form as he could as a full-blown demon, and having been stabbed in the jaw, throat and chest just now certainly didn't improve his immunity. But kami if he wasn't in pain.

He suddenly regained control of his diaphragm and gave a choking inhale, blood trickling with air into his lungs from where it had pooled around his tongue. That was a new sensation. He didn't really like it. Aside from being incapable of breathing properly, he also didn't particularly fancy moving either no matter how much his mind demanded the performance, and transforming was a distant hope in and of itself. How _dare_ this lesser Lord do this so quickly to him! And how? The Shikon no Tama was still under the monk's barrier. Oh, he was infuriated!

Despite his impeccable rage he was expecting a very heavy clawed foot to land on him at any given moment so as to reenact one of Inuyasha's infamous 'sits', only in the reversed position.

Instead, there was a soft pressure on his armored chest and upper arm, and a sudden falling sensation, and someone gave out a scream. He entertained a foggy thought that it was his, and most certainly hoped it wasn't.

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**A/N:** :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Reviews please! Hope you enjoyed, because writing it kept me awake until five in the morning! Not that I'm complaining... Hehehe.


	6. Why?

**A/N:** Well, I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am very good at finding reasons to update this story. I've gotten my first 1,000 hits! -throws tiny party- Besides, that was a rather taunting ending, as it's driven MiHonoKo-BeautifulHarmonyChild to request that I not kill Sesshy, which is an adorable nickname for him and may be exploited. I had continued writing just to see how things would work out, and I hope you all enjoy what I came up with! Enjoy and review please!

**Note:** Odd chapter title, yes...

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**Chapter 6**

**Why?**

Reality was a cruel force. It was slow in coming when you needed it, slapped you in the face when you weren't looking, and most certainly hid when you awoke completely disoriented and feeling like the world decided on a whim to get up and rolled over you a few times.

In other words, great pain. At least he was sitting up against something to enjoy it properly.

Agony stroked his back in knotted fondly around where holes and slices were gouged into his flesh, pulsating with poison as his youki tried to heal the wounds.

Sesshomaru was finding it hard to breathe and grabbed his throat with a gurgling growl, feeling under his palm and through a layer of foreign rough fabric where the once smooth surface ebbed, still healing, and a warm ooze tried to insert itself between his fingers. The whole recovering process would take less time if not for the poison, not to mention it would replace the acid in his veins with a healthy amount of blood. But, what was that cloth? He picked at it with a nail, trying to find an edge away from smooth, dried blood. He was failing so far...

His senses were slowly coming back into focus, but he could move and feel just fine. He vaguely expected to be imprisoned once more in a scenic forest with an arm sliced off, but since there was no sun like there had been in what felt like a split second ago, he had to expand his horizon of thinking…

…

Thinking was _really_ hard to do at the moment. Why was there sun on his face one instant and in the next if felt like he had been buried alive? It did smell rather earthy past the scent of his own blood, and speaking of that rarely seen substance he was still having trouble with that infernal throat decoration.

Thinking was thankfully taken off his hands when instinct kicked in, and that was in reaction to sensing a miko _and_ the feel of someone's hand taking his wrist to make him stop fiddling.

There was a very feminine yelp of surprise when his youki leaped at the threat, but the assault was stopped. Why was it stopped? Apparently opening his eyes was required, despite how difficult it was to do.

A very familiar, weak, and scared miko was easily warding off his considerably weak attack with raised, bloody fingers, and was presently sitting kitty-corner to him in a small box nestled comfortably into the earth. ... What? Why the hell would they bury a miko with him? He'd much prefer being buried alone, thank you very much, and speaking of being buried this was a complete and utter waste of his time.

"Are you alright?" she asked, confusing him even more. Maybe he got hit in the head, he seemed to be missing some prudent facts and his senses were still spinning hard enough to make his ears ring. It simply was not natural to be a demon and wake up with a purification system merely two feet away with powers activated and inquiring on your condition, which happened to be 'not too well,' and in a box. ... _Was_ it a box? If he was going to figure something out he might as well start with his location.

He gave up on the low growl he was working on and looked up, refusing to wince for stretching out the hole in his throat beneath that infernal fabric, and saw the opening of their small confinement oh so mockingly high above and glimmering with a spiritual barrier.

… Barr-i-er… He was in the ground, with a miko, who decided to imprison him, in a box-like space, with herself… … Okay, that didn't make sense, but at least some facts were sorting themselves out, and that just had to be considered progress since that was a rare thing to come by as of late. Progress was good, but the barrier he could do well without, which reminded him that there was, yes, a barrier _and_ a miko, and things were just quickly spiraling down from there.

Tiny warning flags were waving themselves in his mind as his looping thoughts sent his head spinning ever so slowly. What indeed happened? … That's right, he had a few new holes and poison coursing through him, but more importantly, why was he there? If he didn't get some answers soon then someone was going to join him in the merriment of misery.

"We fell," the miko quickly supplied. She had _good_ instincts... "You were fighting a dragon and landed halfway over the Bone Eaters Well, which had to be re-enforced with charms a while back because it was breaking so much and I didn't want to be cut off from home but that's beside the point. I got scared because most of us had gone outside to fight, and then you fell when the dragon grew spikes in its neck, and you were the only one really doing any damage, and Inuyasha couldn't transform Tetsusaiga but helped me fire that shot, and Miroku was holding up a barrier, so I ran over to see how you were and there was this horrible heat behind me and, well, I sort of landed on you and here we are."

... That wasn't an answer, that was a nonsensical session of breathless blathering. Oh how he could live on happily without ever laying eyes on another human again. Especially a miko, which sent his mind running on the track of immense confusion once more.

"What?" he finally asked, unable to avoid coughing into his hand as his vocal cords vibrated loose some dried layers of blood in his throat. To add to the list of unnatural things, hacking up a few red clots was pretty high up there.

The miko, avoiding the sight, took in a deep breath as though to calm herself. He could sill hear her heart racing from where he sat though, and was sure that overly long speech had deprived her of oxygen.

"Okay," she began, hands before her as though arranging the facts. "Remember a dragon? It was very big and dark and randomly spiky."

He scoffed, causing a wave of pain to ripple through him. "I may be injured, but I'm not addled." Unlike his half-brother, he was a fairly good liar… He felt half drugged without the numbing benefits.

"Oh good," the miko replied, seeming rather annoyed herself by… something, "because he almost turned me into a living flambé and was the cause of us tumbling into the future in the first place, so I was wondering if you could introduce me to his mortal looking self so that I can return the favor!"

Sesshomaru glanced up again. The future? The future had a very sturdy roof over its well. That was impressively pointless; it was _suppose_ to collect water... Wait, where were they? _Argh_. It should be a common courtesy to hold one's tongue until the listener had a lung full of air and could stand.

There was a sudden trickle of youki into their present confinement, and the barrier flashed as though with anger, incinerating it.

"And I am getting very tired of doing this," the girl informed, pink purified stars shimmering halfway down the well before winking out like snowflakes. That's right, she was tired in the first place wasn't she? She shifted, apparently uncomfortable around him, and began talking again. "How long until you... feel better?"

That was a _very_ good question. Bodily, an hour, maybe two, in regards to his pride it had a few new blemishes which would take years to remove. He supposed she meant bodily though, so he ignored her. He would have done the same in regards to his pride too, so ignoring her was seemingly a no lose situation for himself.

His mind suddenly went 'clunk' and decided to arrange some words for him in basic Japanese. _Miko. Well. Future. Demon. Why?_

She proved to be quite the embodiment of Tenseiga when it came to being heard, apparently not noticing Sesshomaru's immense session of concentration as the select five words recycled themselves in his weary mind. Thinking still seemed to be low on the agenda. What turn of satirical fate was this?

"Ah! The _great_ Sesshomaru," came a particularly unfamiliar voice, tone sneering down at them. "I have been planning for centuries to encounter your meager half-brother with the last miko..."

The last miko? There _was_ a god… Then again, his luck was never too good. Okay, no, he was still unconscious, what was all of this playing out before him? Tenseiga's doing? It had to be, that rotten scrap of metal which was hell-bent on destroying his life was going to melt. This revelation did not bring him to consciousness though. In fact, he was fairly sure that he was very wide wake already as he used his youki to push away the suddenly blazing spiritual powers.

"Won't you scram!" the miko demanded of the voice, using the well as the barrel of a cannon to shot her powers up in a large explosion. Sesshomaru was not too pleased to be in that barrel at the same time. "Argh!" she growled, looking back down and suddenly realizing who she literally erupted next to. She slapped a hand over her mouth, apparently shocked. "I'm so sorry! I swear it won't happen again, that took a lot out of me anyway!"

Sesshomaru unclenched his shaking fists and retained his youki from its barrier form. He hated humans, and he hated mikos, and combining the two into a ditsy female truly topped this experience off. It was decided. This wasn't a twist of fate, it was cruelty, and he was going to personally dispose of the being responsible for it in an artistic exploitation of blood. As soon as he could stand, he swore that he would do just that.

"I think we have to leave while he's still being fended off," the chit commented, concentrating on the air and feeling out auras. "That last shot gave us enough space to get to the house, and it's under at least twenty generations worth of barriers." She glanced at him as he gave her a flat stare. "Oh, right, the whole demon thing... Sorry, forgot about that. Yeah, generations of barriers probably isn't best. … I've apologized a lot lately..."

Did mortal females tend to think aloud and trail off like that? If so, he didn't think he would handle Rin for much longer...

The demon roared from about fifty feet away, and the girl clambered with some difficulty to her feet. "Yep, time to go. Can you walk?"

... Really, did he have to? Being buried sounded just fine for now, and being rid of her was even _better_. It was a great feat to stand in one fluid motion, back cracking into place as he did. The girl's eyes were rather wide at the noise and searching his masked face for any expression of pain. There was none to be found, though he had the impressive holler echoing between his ears for that motion.

"O-okay," she stammered, turning to start climbing. The barrier disappeared and he made an easy leap out, cringing at the landing as it shook every injury he bore. This place smelled quite foreign, and a stench worse than any demon invaded his sinuses, like burning bodies that were _**long**_ dead.

"Gotta hurry, gotta hurry," the miko chided at herself, finally reaching the top with a sigh of relief. She hoisted her body up, lifted one leg out, landed wrong and commenced to topple forward and at Sesshomaru.

He stepped aside to let the steps brace her.

"Owie!" she whimpered, checking her palms for slivers. What were humans made of, paper?

Another roar of frustration vibrated the air and she scrambled up the wooden steps and peered out the sliding doors at the top. Deciding it was safe, she opened a door and ran out.

This was not the best thing to do.

"EEP!" she squealed as a shadow covered ground melded into an army of hands reaching up and grabbing her ankles. Sesshomaru walked past her, his aura melting a path for himself. She swatted the last claws off her skin and quickly ran ahead, too fast to be grabbed. It was like a lizard over water choppy. She jumped onto the porch, an impressively thick barrier quivering as she entered it, and turned to gesture him into his obliteration.

"Come on!" she almost whined, frantic. "If Inuyasha could pass this then I'm sure you can!"

Was she goading him? If she wasn't then Tenseiga certainly was, wanting to drag him through the spiritual vaporization process. Intolerable sword.

The demon pounded the ground, making an ignorant passerby drop a brown bag with food in it and run screaming 'earthquake'. She really couldn't see it? Speaking of 'it,' it was getting closer, and he was in a great mood to slice something down.

"Sesshomaru, get over here!" the stubborn miko yelled, stomping her foot not eight arm spans away. "Would you at least heal yourself before jumping back into a fight, please?!"

"Unnecessary," he replied coolly. He could feel her flare with irritation. Did she not notice that she loss control of her powers? She certainly wasted a lot of energy with her impatience. Speaking of being impatient she came rippling back through the barrier and stalking over to him, the shadowy ground ebbing away from her flaring feet. He glared at her as she approached. What could this worthless woman possibly hope to accomplish with such a display of uncontrolled power other than being decapitated? If he did that, then there would be **no** mikos, right?

"Sesshomaru!" she yelled. He froze. He wasn't scared, or baffled beyond bodily control, he just stopped and watched as she stormed closer and very _very_ _**very**_ boldly grabbed his sleeve. "Come before I make you a collar!"

His feet very _very_ _**very**_ boldly obeyed her, and his mind began racing all over again. Mostly over the fact that he was moving. Yes, that was established. He was moving, and being led by the sleeve by a miko who needed to pick out her grave marker. Why was he moving? Why wasn't she now dead? Why why why why **why?? **Yes, Tenseiga would like this wench rather nicely. And why were his feet still moving? Couldn't he grab her wrist and rip her arm off now? Please? No? Alright, let's walk through a barrier and _then _talk about it.

About half a second after he was clear of the well-established sacred shield his limbs recalled which brain they obeyed and the miko soon found herself pinned by the neck against a wall.

"What did you do to this Sesshomaru?" he demanded, claws glowing. She could survive his attempts to kill her twice, but third time was the charm, right?

She looked very terrified as her hands grabbed at his wrist, rich brown eyes competing against her gapping mouth in how wide they could open. He was then all too nicely reminded that she was, yes, a miko, and reclaimed his searing wrist with a hiss. Screw the Jewel, she was dead.

"KAGOME!!" came a young male voice, the door flying open and a boy exposing himself. "Oh! You're not Inuyasha! Kagome, who's this?" The lad seemed none too taken aback by a stranger with poised talons and a, by their scents, sister who was brimming brightly with energy. Unless such power was as noticeable as a demon for these humans.

"This is Sesshomaru, his half-brother," she replied, rubbing at her neck and glaring at the demon Lord. "He's our guest for an interesting story which I'm sure he'd love it hear."

Sota looked between the demon and miko who were currently glaring at one another, a small smile on his face. "Cool! I'll tell gramps!" He ducked back into the house, eagerly awaiting the story.

"You can kill me AFTER this," Kagome informed Sesshomaru.

He balked. She was giving him permission? How DARE she try and tell him what he is and is not allowed to do. "I can kill you now."

"Okay, before or AFTER I shoot you through this barrier??" she demanded, a fist full of energy ready.

He forced himself to calm down. At his current state, she was right. She _did_ have all the energy she needed to purify him, with or without the barrier, and having a full lung and a half of blood and other unpleasant things wrong with himself he was not sure if he could move quickly enough to introduce her to her insides before that happened. Her previous well experimentation evaporated a lot of his youki anyway.

"A friend of yours?" a woman asked through the doorway. She blinked when she got two harsh 'no's at the exact same time.

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**A/N:** I sure am enjoying this... I'm so happy I got four reviews for the last chapter! That's a record for this story! Let's see how many I get with this chapter. :D Review please!


	7. Too Much Information

**A/N:** Sorry this took a while to update!!

Enjoy and review!

**Rant:** ACK!! I almost **died**! A Salt Lake City major freeway should NOT be reduced to two lanes for construction! My lane came to a complete stop, I was petrified that I'd hit the car in front of me, and all because of a gravel truck that couldn't completely get off the road and onto the construction site! So, I look in my back mirror, and what do I see? If you guessed the monstrous and rapidly growing grill of a timber hauling semi going fifty not thirty feet back, then you're correct! I about had a heart attack, getting as close to the car in front of me and veering towards the right (to a cement wall) and if I hadn't that semi would have taken my back bumper and spun me under! I'm not kidding when I say that the guy missed me by a foot! A FOOT! If that guy had looked up only a fraction of a second later at those speeds I and many others would have died. GAA-AA-AH!! -scrubs hands through hair- I was sobbing hysterically! T-T Okay, that's my life experience rant, enjoy the chapter!

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**Chapter 7**

**Too Much Information**

The sun had been set for over an hour now, the shadowy demon lingering on the outskirts of the shrine, and Sesshomaru found himself pondering the fascinations of technology. If he was not peering over the boy's head at the moving image box, then he watched the miko and her mother open a cold door for preserved food and run water and fire summoning systems. It was fascinating. He didn't mind being dragged there for the time being, everything was way too mind captivating; save for the cat. The feline, who was hiding somewhere, made his nose itch.

The miko made an unexpected giggle, and Sesshomaru spared her a look from looking at himself in an interesting reflection.

"That's called a microwave," she informed, using an oddly shaped metal blade with a hole in the middle to slice the surface off a carrot. It wasn't nearly as interesting as the utensil which slit open a metal container to reveal food though; not even his sense of smell could find it in there.

"These are all…" he began, looking for the right word. "Odd."

"They get the job done," she stated.

He didn't like the gleam in her eye nor the plastered smirk on her face, but the remarkably fixated item to the cold door caught his eye. It gave a little resistance when he pulled it off, then suctioned quickly back to the surface when it got near again. Many weapons and ideas blossomed into his head at this. Something could move without manual force to initiate it?

"And those are magnets."

"Hm," he replied, putting the dull looking material between two nails and pinching. It crumbled with his ideas. "Very odd."

She looked a little displeased when he let the remains slide back onto the smooth cold door surface. "You just had to put it back on the fridge…"

Fridge. Short for frigged. That was simple enough.

"It's so great to have company," the mother commented. "Kagome, you can show him around if you want. I have dinner under control."

"Oh! Oh! I want to!" the boy wildly exclaimed from the three person padded throne he sat upon.

"Now, now, Sota," tut the mother. "This is Kagome's guest, let her."

"Aw man!" the boy huffed, turning back to the moving box.

The miko let out a sigh, dread weighing it down ever so slightly, and she addressed him. "How would you like to start then?"

"Explain this," he ordered, gesturing vaguely to the surroundings.

She crossed her arms. "Be more specific."

"Do what you're told," he replied.

"No," she retorted. "Because I can't really. It's all too complicated. I can get you some books on it though."

"Oh!" exclaimed the boy again. He abruptly turned back around and addressed the miko in tongues. He said 'can he only speak Japanese,' and it sounded like a question, but whatever was being discussed flew by Sesshomaru and impressed him. Two languages? Not one he ever indulged in, but still impressive. Was it even useful for them to know? If so, why? Trade? Politics? His head was spinning, but it was a good sort of spinning. For the first time in centuries he felt the tickle of curiosity.

The miko took a glance at him at the question. 'Probably,' she worded. 'Do you?'

He heard the tone of a question being asked, but couldn't reply, so he gave the barest of shrugs.

'This is excellent!' the miko cheered. What had he just agreed to?

'Kagome, mind your manners,' the mother scolded.

'Oh come on! This regal prick deserves to be ignorant just _once_!'

"Regal prick?" the boy asked in Japanese. The miko flinched and Sesshomaru leveled a look at the back of her head, but she refused to turn around.

"Found it!" the squat elder of the home reported, walking in with a scroll that was as thick as an arm and as long as one as well. It was an eastern style scroll, Sesshomaru recognized. It remained in a suitable box to be carried in though, and Sesshomaru wondered why. Would it fall apart otherwise? "Gather around everyone! We are going to read the ancient text now which originally dictates the beginnings of the new era!"

"Great, an original!" the miko cheered, walking over. "And NOT one of your tales for the ages! Those stories can get so altered!"

"They are perfectly fine!" the grandpa defended himself while putting a new layer of material over his hands before handling the wooden ends of the scroll. He slowly untied a deep blue ribbon and held the parchment properly, letting the heavy bottom turn in his palm as his other hand lifted to reveal the writing. The humans stared, and so did Sesshomaru.

"What does it say?!" the elder demanded frantically, laying it on the low table and unrolling more in search of another language.

Sesshomaru was flabbergasted as he read it.

'… _Relying on these ancient predictions of the eldest of my tribe, I, former Lord Bashamon of the East, have known victory over the former Lord of the West. My rein has spread across the heart of this country, and shall now be called the Central Domain, and I its Central Lord…'_

The miko seemed to sense him, because she immediately hopped out of his path as he went to the closest door, grabbed its handle, yanked it sideways with a horrible crack as it became nicely nestled into the wall, and once that was slid open it was only a matter of dealing with that barrier.

"MIKO!" he barked. She came running lightly closer, afraid. As well she should be, this news was tragic. The old man gave a cry of fear and over money to fix the wall, the older woman commented on strength and the boy said the unfamiliar phrase of 'cool' again, but they were easily ignored.

"Yes?" the miko asked in a meek voice. Finally some proper fear, but now wasn't the time.

"Lower this barrier **immediately**," he demanded with a growl.

"AAAH!! You can't do that!" the old man cried frantically. "That precious barrier took CENTURIES to raise!"

"Miko!" Sesshomaru demanded. He had to get back to his time and correct what had gone seriously wrong. What happened to his lands? How long was he gone? Not more than an hour, but did the well render time to flow differently? "Now!"

"You can't walk through it?" she asked, sounding at a loss.

Sesshomaru stuck his fingers through the barrier, and- They didn't burn. The barrier wasn't hurting him. The next instant he found himself yanking open the well shrine door, this one sliding naturally and then flying off the track, and jumping at the well.

A shadowy figure appeared on the other side of the well from himself and it was immediately sliced through.

"Hehehe," it chortled at the floor with the voice from before, no cut appearing. Sesshomaru retracted his poison whip and addressed the being with a suspicious stare. "Don't recognize me? Well, that's a shame. We were getting to be such _good_ friends, too!"

"Who are you?" Sesshomaru inquired, restraining from fisting his hands. This was a mad demon, but was soul-restrained to something, which had prevented him from being cut.

"Why, _Lord_ Sesshomaru!" it chortled, lifting its face enough to begin glimpsing into the nostrils and tilting to the side. Its eyes were red, and its teeth badly taken care of as they peered through its lips in a sneering grin. Although the appearance and the scent were immensely different, Sesshomaru knew the being. "It's your old friend, Bashamon!"

Sesshomaru hadn't even gotten within a foot of the being with Tenseiga before he disappeared. He caught himself on the far lip of the well and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Sesshomaru?" came the miko's voice from outside, approaching. He paid no heed and dropped into the timeless abyss. He hit the bottom. Nothing had changed.

"Oh!" the miko started, coming to a quick stop when he appeared before her.

"Why does the well not work?" he seethed, fists actually shaking at his sides.

"_What_ doesn't?" she asked, taking a step back for personal space.

"The well!" he replied, getting sick of the general incompetence and confusion of this place. "Its basic function is to change times when one jumps into it, correct?"

"Yes," she replied. "It's... It's not doing that?"

He as about ready to drop her in it himself, but she decided to run ahead and save him the trouble.

"Oh no!" she whimpered at the bottom, patting the ground like she was looking for something. "No! What's _wrong_ with it??"

Did he not already mention his lacking fondness for the incompetence?

She proved her persistence though. Climbing laboriously to the top, the miko sat on the lip and jumped back down. The seventh time she did this she sprang her ankle slightly. The twelfth time she got the other ankle.

A few hours passed before she decided to call it quits for the night, and five minutes after hobbling away with that resolution the miko crept outside, apparently believing she was unwatched, to try again. Sesshomaru decided to ignore her from where he was sitting comfortably on a stone railing, or a decorative wall, between the home and the well. He had been studying the surroundings for some time, and came to the conclusion that the seemingly unnecessary stone statues, which sized comparably with a man, littering the grounds were actually barrier sources. It was quite easy for Sesshomaru to figure this out, as now he found amusement in watching the barrier light the air into a vivid petal pink flame to circle and ripple around his finger, which swirled in the barrier. He didn't know why they had no effect on him, but he was glad for it. The strongest barrier was fixated around the entire property, especially within the simple red torii which marked the entrance.

"Ow," came a faint female whimper of pain. She should learn not to perform such tortures on her frail human body. She was, after all, still recovering.

Speaking of, that demon which greeted them was still keeping its, probably _his, _distance. Sesshomaru had an idea of what that demon was, but the thought was simply too preposterous to be true. Still...

The scroll was a very interesting story, the miko was right. It was brief though, easily read in one sitting, which meant he sat there for a very long time reading the parchment over and over again. It was a log of events, yes. About a month long, if Bashamon wrote every day in it, or just once a day. He never dated, which was quite annoying, but Sesshomaru decided that it was an evening gloat with ink and paper. Shameful. Yet even though it was a ridiculously infuriating document, one he should burn at that very moment, he kept it. There was a mystery to it. Although Sesshomaru had not heard of such a scroll being written, there was a note left in it for him.

_Find the Jewel._

Whoever decided to write such a message, in _Sesshomaru's _own handwriting no less, was a fool. He sought no Jewel, and certainly couldn't go back in time yet to retrieve it. Still, he couldn't help but think about what had happened, what was happening, and what was recorded. It just didn't make sense. Not yet anyway.

So, he sighed, an almost painful action with the air quality of that place, and watched the stars brighten and a foolish girl stumble from point A to point B more times than either of them cared to count.

This was just too much to absorb in one day...

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**A/N:** If I confused you in THIS chapter, then GOOD. Hallelujah! This is Sesshomaru's POV, you're suppose to be confused. :P

Also, I'm quite excited, because I've figured out a wonderful plot for this and am going to drag all of you through it, glass and rusty metal and all, and you will love it. XD Cocky, aren't I? You love that too, by the way...

Reviews please!!


	8. It's Spring

**A/N:** Aaaaah!! Summer... Lovin' it... XD Hope you are too!

This chapter is mostly for shits and giggles (and building character and relaying what's been happening and yadda-yadda), so enjoy!!

**FYI:** This is quite long for one of my chapters, and that's after being split in half and made into two chapters... I was going to do parts, but those get confusing when you have chapter numbers to deal with..

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**Chapter 8**

**It's Spring**

A week passed since Sesshomaru found himself absolutely stuck in that place which he decided to call the crust of hell, and trust him, he had his reasons.

First off, he was bored. He was really, very, unimaginably bored. He suddenly had all the time in the world and wasn't constrained to the doings of a lord in the making. True, he had the title, but he wasn't in charge of his lands like his father had been. Then again, he wondered if those lands would still be his by the time he got back. The correction of that would prove to be more than enough entertainment to make up for this week. Still, even though he was bored and everything else around was interesting and extremely not boring, there came in his next issue in life.

Second, he couldn't pass through the last barrier, of which there were multiple. How that vague demon could and he couldn't was beyond him, but he had a good five minutes after his first attempt babying his fingers. Damn the wench, and damn the damnable shrine, and just for good measure, damn the wench. And speaking of the miko, she was even more useless of late because of her excitement being replaced by dread, and so her human-energy-backup depleted itself immediately and she actually managed to sleep for a whole day. Now she wouldn't get out of the house because walking up and down steps was 'bad enough'. To think that before all of this she had been bed-ridden, and then decided she felt fine enough to just wander up to and land on his already undignified person and send them both to hell. ... Alright, he's been to hell and back a few times, but this was worse than that... Yes, it decidedly was, because hell didn't have a list of reasons as to why he hated it.

Third misfortune, there were questions. Too many questions. He loathed questions. Especially from innocent children. Who knew a boy could out-do Rin...

"So, how come you never take a bath?" the miko's younger brother inquired on an exceptionally sunny and boring day. They called their current time frame a week-end, and it apparently came often, but aside from being plagued by a child Seshsomaru saw nothing noticeably special about it. Why couldn't those learning facilities be open more often...

"This Sesshomaru does not need to bathe," he replied shortly, not meeting the child's eyes. And, he wasn't lying, he didn't. Humans were filthy vermin who savored spreading their inner filth across their skin, and needed to wash it off regularly. Demons rarely required baths, and his garments already took care of any filth they gathered, such as his blood, themselves. The wonderful clothing even mended itself, with some help of his youki that is.

"Well, that's odd," the boy commented, hunching slightly with uncertainty. He obviously had instincts... "So, why don't you ever change even?" ... And he enjoyed ignoring them.

"Sota, stop that!" came the miko's chiding voice as she approached, bearing with her the scent of soap-drenched flower beds. Her hair was wet still from her daily bath, and lay in wet segments where it would cling to her skin and clothes. A week of rest had done her body good, and she lost the dark circles under her eyes, but Sesshomaru could sense that she was still recovering.

She bore the mark still of his half-brother biting her, on her left shoulder. It had sealed over, yes, but sealing it had been quite the challenge for the little miko. So, although her body was mostly recovered from the spiritual draining invested in the demon infestation from the bite, she had yet to replenish even her back-up powers. Thusly, she tripped a lot. He himself still had some time left before fully recovering, but he still retained enough to do whatever he needed to do. Gather energy and travel, transform, things like that. But damn him if he could manage to pass that barrier with what he had!

Sesshomaru regarded her approaching self with a glance. He came to the conclusion not too long ago that, although he hated this place, he _despised_ that woman.

"I'm not doing anything bad, sis!" Sota whined, running up to her.

"You know I don't want you bothering him," the miko 'whispered' into her brother's ear. Although Sesshomaru had let her stay alive for the time traveling well, he also relished in the fact that the boy actually listened to her. Why that child refused to heed an order from Sesshomaru himself was beyond perplexing, and being perplexed was his new source of annoyance.

Thusly, he had been annoyed **and **bored for an entire week, and he was finding it to be... annoying, which didn't help at all. Where did the cosmos find the justice to do this to him? Why that girl had to fall on him and send them down that well was past the line of logic and Sesshomaru could only blame fate, and her, for not being stepped on by a dragon instead. Since the miko had a physical body though, she became a good outlet for his irritation with both her and fate.

"The boy should learn to value his life more, miko," Sesshomaru stated in a bored manner, which was easier done than said.

The one decent thing about this whole predicament was that she was very fun to torment. He could even blame himself minutely for her obscenely slow recovery, since he tended to wake her up when he was either bored or finding something to do around the home. He apparently had enough energy to be sensed by a sleeping miko, which was perfectly fine by him.

She rounded on him, hands on her hips, and regarded his regal self with a wrinkled nose.

"Well, excuse me that we are not use to living outside of our comfortable lifestyle to see imminent death in the shape of a demon at arm's length," she bit out, gently smacking the back of the boy's head as he fled the premises and into the home. The child chuckled at that.

Sesshomaru smirked ever so slightly, but enough so the miko could see it. She seemed to be easily unsettled by such a simple facial expression, and she was amusing that way. Her speech was quickly impaired and her diaphragm spasmed, making her look flustered as her anger presented itself through her body and her scent. In a way, annoying her had become an art form which he enjoyed indulging.

Hm... Angry soap-covered flowers...

"Y-" she started, pausing for a very minute shiver of worry-mingled anger. "You're just bored, aren't you?"

His smirk grew.

She took a firm stance and looked at him through the corners of her eyes, face tilted away.

"You're evil, and you enjoy it," she stated, turning her back to him and making her way for the house. Just for kicks, he flared his aura and she spun so quickly on her heel that she fell onto her rump, covered in spiritual residue that was suppose to be a barrier for herself. What a waste of limited energy... "GAH!! No! Damn you!" She glared up at him, some locks of hair still plastered to her cheek from spinning, just in time to see his amused smile. "Oh, go to hell Sesshomaru!!"

_'Been there, done that,'_ he thought. She stormed off with only her middle finger lifted at him, and he was left to find a new source of humor. He was bored again. Where was Jaken when he needed to kick something... He didn't do well being around beings and being bored at the same time...

Hunting the cat would have to do.

"Oh!" exclaimed the mother when she turned around. He found the cat. It was hiding on top of the fridge, and currently doubling its size with raised fur. The mother wiped her hands habitually on a cloth hanging from a small door under the sink "Are you hungry? I can make something. Would you like me to make you something to eat? You haven't eaten anything since you got here. You're beginning to make me worry."

She had quickly learned earlier that week to drop calling him 'dear', a carefree term of that time, but her talkative nature he couldn't cut short. It was attached as firmly to her mouth as her soul was to her body, which would have been easily separated if not for the results of a conversation with the miko. It occurred immediately after reining in the mother's word choice, and Sesshomaru was quite displeased to be the loser of that spit-fire verbal quarrel. The miko was suppose to be tired and recovering, not snippy and witty. How the miko suddenly got clever via her incoherence was so far over the border of sanity that Sesshomaru left it alone.

But still, damn... Not being able to kill humans without completely ignoring his sense of honor was really beginning to itch under his skin...

He turned to walk back outside, and ran into the third-place nuisance.

"So, why DO you only wear one outfit?" the boy repeated himself.

"Sota! Leave Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands alone!" That was the grandfather. Sesshomaru's favorite person there, if he had to pick. The best part was the man could ramble for hours about stories from the 'past', what was suppose to be Sesshomaru's future, and Sesshomaru didn't have to prompt him and could even pretend to ignore him without breaking the 'conversation'. He hated talking to humans. Listening was fine, to a certain point.

"Alright! I'm ready to go!" First-place nuisance and breacher of listening point just came hopping down the stairs. She certainly changed fast. What was she ready for? Whatever it was, she looked happy about it.

"When will you be back?" the mother inquired.

"By supper," the miko replied, straightening her outfit. She wore a different short kimono, which Sesshomaru had learned divided in the middle while looking for entertainment a few days ago. She tried to hit him with an alarm clock at that point, and was mortified that he not only caught it but melted it down to scrap too. Her top was more revealing than usual, the fabric clinging greedily to her torso while being supported by two small straps over her shoulders. For a miko, she was fairly... out there. "We're going to see a new movie too! It's called the Grudge, it looks really good."

"Honey, won't that scare your friends?" the mother asked, offering a small woven overcoat, which probably only served as decorations since it was so thing and barely woven. It was taken.

"They can handle it," the miko replied, practically twirling the fabric over her shoulders and grabbing a tiny bag. "Thanks! I'm off now!"

"Alright, have fun!" the mother stated.

Fun??

The miko, now halfway between the home and the red torii with the barrier, looked back at the Sesshomaru who was nonchalantly following her. They hadn't even left the grounds though before his presence annoyed her.

"Yes?" she asked, rounding on him and causing her now pulled up and dried hair to feather her cheek.

He barely rolled his shoulders in reply.

"Sesshomaru, you can't leave dressed like that..."

Lovely! A challenge!

"Why not?" he asked. "I do as I please, little human."

"It's Kagome," she supplied, sounding weary. She told him absolutely enough times for him to never forget that name, and she _still _didn't make the connection that he was choosing to not use it. Or, perhaps, she was trying to manipulate his addressing of her, and if so then he just found something else to kill the time with. Yes, kill the time, wait for that well to open again. If it didn't open soon, he had new lands to conquer.

He rolled his shoulders again.

She sighed, and prayed to a passing cloud. "Listen, I know you're a Demon Lord and could kill me without looking and probably even while moving in slow motion in your terms..." Naturally. "But this isn't your world. You're in a _city_ named _Tokyo_ and you are a _demon_ in a _human_ society..."

Her elaboration was almost as sarcastic as his third shrug.

"RRRGH!" she vexed, storming closer to him. Her scent was now beginning to penetrate the soapy floral smell, and he refused to admit that her real scent was far better than the fake. "You are a pain in the ass, you know that??"

"Yes," he replied. Her face didn't fall with shock, like it once would to such a response, but quirked like someone just twisted her nose. She stomped her foot.

"You know _what_! I'm _glad_ you hate me, because then _I_ don't have to feel bad about hating _you_ back!" She twirled and walked off, and he did the same. "And **stop** following me!!"

"No," he replied simply. Alright, perhaps he was being a _little_ immature, but with only her seeing it there was no harm. Well, no harm to him, which was a delight.

"Wha- ... Yes!!" she barked. "I am NOT going to tolerate your presence everywhere I choose to go!!"

"Too bad you do not have much of a choice in that," he replied. _Cha-ching!_ This was going to be an _excellent _day, and he would pass up hunting for getting her goat any time. She began to walk away, simmering.

Hm... The barrier... How to get an armature miko to lower a barrier... Or, one of the three that were there.

"You do realize how unfavorably those clothes portray you, correct?"

She stopped right on the top step, three ripples of pink going unnoticed by her. Perfect.

She crossed her arms. "I'll have you know that I don't give a _blink _over what you think."

He smirked, she scowled, the world was good again.

The world went off kilter when she took two audacious steps out of the barrier. Damn.

"I'll have you know, I-!"

Sesshomaru did absolutely _the_ most childish thing he could recall ever having done in his centuries of maturity, and putting a finger on her collar bone he pushed her.

She was so shocked she fell and sat on the ground, and gapped at him.

... Not the reaction he was aiming for... So, he flared his aura.

"IS THIS SOME SORT OF JOKE?!" the miko demanded, smacking the ground with her hands and flaring up as well.

"How else do you expect to be treated when dressed as an easy lay?" Sesshomaru inquired. Yep. That did it. With a drawn out 'oo' noise she balled her fists and got to her feet, pointing a finger at him.

"You litt-!"

"Be quiet," he ordered.

Miko explosion.

_POW!_

Sesshomaru jumped away and was very satisfied to see the first layer of the barrier fragment and fall like cherry pedals. The miko held her head over the sudden energy outburst and results.

"I hate you," she muttered.

Despite how strong it still was, Sesshomaru knew he could certainly pass through the barrier now with the sacrifice of a bit of his energy. After all, energy was quite expendable now, considering the only demon left was a ghost as far as he had seen.

The miko got unsteadily to her feet, attempted to glare him to death, and came stomping up to within three inches of his face, trembling with fury. Yes, a good day was ahead.

"Why you-!"

"Hey Kagome!!" The miko looked ready to cry with how her anger was suddenly bottled up.

Sesshomaru looked past his victim and at the tall flight of stairs leading into this property to see what had distracted the miko from her splendid anger. He was ready to exploit it again too. The nerve...

"My, my, my! Who's this?" asked the girl with the shortest hair of all three.

"A cosplayer?" asked another girl with unnatural wavy hair. How did she get it curled like that... "What are you cosplaying as? There's a convention around here?"

Oh dear lord, questions... Sesshomaru was about to leave, but the miko's whimper anchored him comfortably to the spot.

"What's your name?" asked the third and last female, her hair pulled back from her face with an odd utensil. Since when hasn't a utensil been odd there? ... Well, the chopsticks, but everything else was different. He had destroyed the kitchen while people were asleep to satisfy some of his curiosity, and the next night discovered that one of the odd sounds was actually a bowl of water with a seat over it tucked away in a small room, and it was easily flooded with a few switches of that little lever. A very tired miko came storming into the room with the bath and turned on the light to see Sesshomaru looking into the upper portion of the odd utensil secured to the wall. She looked groggily at her feet, and stated her hate for him when her toes got wet from the bowl water.

Aside from all of that, finally! A question he actually didn't mind answering. "You may address me as Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands."

... Usually, saying that did not result in giggles... Feminine giggle no less...

"So Kagome, where'd you dig _this_ one up?" asked the girl with short brown hair.

Dig? That better be a common-place phrase on how to find someone...

"O-oh!" the miko stuttered. "He's just visiting, really. He's actually Inuyasha's half-brother, and-"

"REALLY??" all three newcomers suddenly shrieked.

Sesshomaru thought his ears were bleeding, and was suddenly encircled by the new girls. This was not what he wanted.

"You're older, right?"

"Why do your ears look like that?"

"I like the face makeup! It's really well done!"

"My GOD, IS this a wig?"

"So both you and Inuyasha like to dress up oddly! That's pretty cool!"

"How old are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"Is Inuyasha here?"

"Are you seriously here with Kagome while Inuyasha's gone?"

At that last question the girls fell silent for a split second (and he kept count) before a very long 'oo' that was very different than the miko's came perfectly toned from each girl, causing the air to vibrate the fur of his pelt, which was being touched...

...

No, this was definitely not what he wanted. He easily jumped out of their circle and landed at a safe distance, which happened to be on a wall, leaving them to gap like sheep which forgot how to swallow.

"Oh boy," Kagome giggled nervously, clutching her chin and apparently thinking.

"WOW!!" the newcomers cheered, the one with wavy hair applauding. ... Applauding? Why?

"You can do martial arts!"

"That was so cool!"

"How high can you jump?"

"Are you a black belt, or is that not the ranking system for your style?"

"Where did you learn?"

"Can I have your phone number?"

"Seriously, I'll take classes with you!"

"Are you in high school?"

"Yeah!"

"Do you go to school HERE??"

"Which school, because I wouldn't mind switching to have a class together!"

_Must. Kill. Them._

"Guys, he doesn't like talking too much," the miko giggled nervously. "And he's only here for a little while and doesn't go to school. Anymore."

What was she blathering about? He's NEVER been to one of their learning facilities, he always had private tutors growing up.

"Hey! You should come hang out with us!" stated the brown haired girl. To Sesshomaru, not the miko, which was... weird. They were all weird. He didn't want to be there anymore.

"No!" the miko squealed with painful thoughts.

"Alright," Sesshomaru agreed, easily hopping down to the ground. He received a death glare and returned it with a smirk. For some reason the amount of hormones in the air suddenly _exploded_ and the three girls were hanging on one another looking at him. Said smirk disappeared instantaneously.

He could suffer through this, if only to annoy his hostess, who had to be kept alive... Damn...

"You. Are. Staying. Sesshomaru," Kagome bit out. The best part about annoying her was that it was easy...

Then again, he could say the same for himself, feeling his lip curl back with threatening disgust when two girls each grabbed one of his haori sleeves and the other actually began encouraging him ahead with two hands on the back of his armor. To their disappointment, he didn't move, but they got to hear him growl threateningly.

"He can come!" the women reassured the miko, trying to tug him onward. He was willing to lie and say he forgot he couldn't kill _anything... _Which was a very stupid, stupid, baka result of a conversation a few days ago. It started with approximately thirty five immensely annoying morning birds laying split in half across the shrine grounds. So, instead of just not being able to kill humans, the miko got clever and now he couldn't kill anything... Well, he could, just with consequences he'd rather avoid. Like demon seals, and breaking his word. He _did_ have back quite a bit of his energy, but he needed it all to keep from being sealed.

... Ugh... Stupid, clever wench with spiritual powers.

The girls turned to leave, walking ahead and woman-handling their friend the miko with frantic whispers. Sesshomaru ignored them, and gathering his youki he jumped through the barrier.

Ow...

That stung...

The miko looked back at the power flare with an intrigued look, but her attention was captured by her friends again.

Hopefully he wouldn't have to go back through that barrier any time soon...

* * *

**A/N:** Nine pages! NINE!! Congrats on getting through it!

Anyway, much fun is ahead! I know, this story is a romance and it will get there! I just rather enjoy dragging everyone through the preliminaries. Don't worry, I plan to make it worth it.

Some of you have asked if Sesshomaru will be there for a while. The time frame will be a few weeks, probably a month, but I'll be having plenty of chapters to dictate as much. No, not fun filler chapters (like this and the next one), a lot of stuff will be happening.

Speaking of that, PLEASE ask me questions! It's hard to know the plot and write it out, because with it all in my head already I tend to not notice all the little gaps, so I will positively **adore **you if you say you're confused and give a reason why. On that note, thanks AnimeFreakGirl777!!

I love constructive criticism, but being condescending in a review is just... mean.

Anyway, I'm glad I've been able to hold an audience of readers this long, and thank you for reading and for all of the reviews so far! Keep up the good work! ;D


	9. The Future

**A/N:** Haha, on with the 'girl's day out'!! Another nine pages!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**The Future**

Sesshomaru was escorted through town, and was very quickly wondering A: why build something so unnecessarily tall, and B: what on earth are the shinies moving past on black wheels? He had seen them passing from the other side of the barrier, now he would touch them...

One of them honked at him when he stopped it with his palm pressed into the front. He only wanted to look it over... The front didn't look too good after that, but the rest was the richest cherry color he had ever seen and it was small and sleek with a hard segmented roof and... It was purring? Why was it purring? The man driving it look mortified when Sesshomaru forced open the top of the front, metal bending and a piece flying off, only to see not-so-shiny stuff working inside. It was fascinating. Spinning, hot, dark objects ran this thing?

That experience didn't go over too well, and the girls began talking about 'super-human strength' after they promptly ran away and pretended to not know him. ... Well, on the strength bit, duh, he was a demon. The miko began making up wild tales that the man already had that dent, and that he was slamming on his breaks before getting anywhere near Sesshomaru.

The liar... Her scent was panicked as she spoke, so she probably had a good reason based on future laws. He made a note to stop a few more shinies... Actually, that was a very BIG shiny that just went rolling past on large wheels, with a big and long white box following behind.

The girls immediately removed themselves from the rock slab path which the glistening carriages kept to, and they entered a clearing with little windowed buildings on either side. He heard one of them call it 'the outdoor mall', and it was apparently not their destinations. He didn't mind walking though, he got to see how people thought sticking decapitated and de-limbed human torso replicas on metal sticks with clothes as a fashion statement. He could help with that...

He concluded shortly after entering that place that he should have left that shrine a _long_ time ago... And that he loved corn dogs... And 'money'. Sure, he had seen coins being exchanged by humans before, but only the obscenely wealthy. Here, its management was an art form. Money was regularly traded for stuff in the future, which was brilliant for a human, and thusly, more money meant more stuff, and status amongst the humans was determined without fighting. He also quickly discovered that the infinite source of money, which seemed rather contradictory to having money for status in the first place, was called a credit card, and the first uniformed person to activate it got a demon peering at the screen over their shoulder to see what was happening.

"If I could collar you I swear I would!" the miko hissed at him while he ate another sticked meal, walking away.

He fondly remembered his half-brother smashing face-first into the floor, and was glad it would never be him...

"I don't believe this," the miko scoffed later on when her friends were off ordering iced cream, which sounded disgusting. "You actually eat, AND you're HORRIBLE in public... At least Inuyasha could wear a hat and call it good. That, and he would listen..."

"Things that live tend to eat if they wish to live long," he stated for the first part, dipping into the yellow and red sauces and taking another bite. He found the end of the stick hidden in the odd 'meat'. "And public is horrible around me."

She rolled her eyes with a scoffed breath of 'Mr. Perfect', using that funny little language of hers, and crossed her arms onto the shaded table they were sitting at. There was a big red and white fabric structure over them, he absentmindedly wondered why they took a good rain breaking umbrella and turned it to a hideously huge temporary shader was beyond him. They could just build a roof that would block the rain. "What changed your mind that you could eat here, then?" she asked. He didn't bother answering.

"Sesshomaru, hurry up so the ice cream doesn't melt!" giggled the girl with her hair pulled back, handing a cone of white substance out to him. He accepted it and sniffed it, and the air around it was cold and sugary. Weird... Did it come from a fridge?

The girls cringed when he bit it. ... It was good, an- COLD!! GAAAAAAAAAAH!!

Of course, he kept a straight face...

The miko laughed. "I suppose you don't get brain freezes, either?"

Is _that_ what he was feeling? His brain freeze over? It hurt. He hated humans _all_ over again.

He swallowed quickly, the cold ball grabbing his throat, and when it passed his hatred melted to its usual level along with the remaining cream in his mouth. The suddenly sugary and cool taste made itself known on his numb tongue.

That was good...

He had another bite. It took him a little while to learn to lick it, thanks to the miko...

"He's so cute!" the girl with oddly wavy hair whispered as softly as she could to the one with her hair held back.

"I know!" was the minute squeak of a reply, knees competing all of a sudden for height as she shifted in her seat, skirt riding up. They were both hiding smiles behind their ice cream.

"Guys..." the miko began around her own cold dessert. "He can hear you..."

All three of the girls flinched.

"No he can't!" the brown haired one stated.

"Well, he certainly doesn't need to hear you to know exactly what you're talking about," the miko stated. "Even I can tell..."

"... _Could_ you hear us?" the one with wavy hair asked.

He smirked.

They swooned.

The miko sighed into her palm.

He was pleased.

It was odd how liberated he felt in a land that certainly wasn't his own... With no one to impress, he could be as annoying as he wanted! Truly, that was the saving grace of the future. And as soon as he was back in the past he would try and survive five hundred years of living up to this point just to watch it all happen all over again!

An hour after leaving the shrine, when the pack of gigglers said that he needed another ice cream, the peeved miko decided to ask him something.

"WHAT the HELL are you DOING??" she demanded through her teeth.

"Socializing," he replied.

"You're FLIRTING! With HUMANS!! What the HELL??"

He was taken aback. "I am doing nothing of the sort."

"Liar," the miko scoffed. She noted his slight frown. "Well, come on! You know what you're doing, you can't deny that."

"This Sesshomaru always knows what he is doing," he stated, hands in opposing sleeves.

"Hm, yes, the expert cleaner of cones with one's tongue," the miko commented, shaking her head with tinted cheeks. What? He didn't know he had to eat the cone to get the rest of the iced cream, and it wasn't his fault that the girls liked his tongue (odd that...), and why did he even care what that annoying wench thought anyway?

"It _is_ spring," he commented, eying the girls who came giggling his way, ice cream in hand. The miko threw him a questioning look until the two girls sat on either side of him and handed over the ice cream.

"Mating season... Great," the miko vexed, snatching her ice cream and taking a bite to give herself a headache. At least she would have a good reason for the one she already had...

"You weren't at the high school entrance ceremony, Kagome" the wavy haired girl commented, sitting at the miko's side rather than Sesshomaru's, though he didn't have too many sides left...

"Oh, that was... Yesterday?" the miko asked, fingers twiddling on the cone.

"Um... No, that was over a week ago," her friend replied.

"Oh!" the miko gave a start. "Wow... Um, must have... Slipped my mind?"

"Were you sick again?" the brown haired girl asked.

"S-sorta?" the miko stuttered. "Actually, come to think of it, yeah, I was."

There was a pause, the the wavy haired girl made an 'umm'.

"Yes?" Sesshomaru's hostess asked.

"Kagome, why didn't you bring _him_ home instead of his brother?" the girl asked softly.

"_Half-_brother," Sesshomaru clarified, the women learning with a wild flinch that he could, indeed, hear them. The miko took an almost unhealthy bite of ice cream. Sesshomaru was left to wonder if women's faces, such as hers, heated to a healthy red when their brains were freezing, and he was guessing not.

This was all rather excellent. Until the mall... Entirely too much squealing over entirely unimportant things... Like clothes... And the place was HUGE!! He wanted to prowl, but...

"Well?" asked the wavy haired girl, coming out of door number one and twirling with a dress on.

He glanced over and arched an eyebrow.

She giggled with her hands in front of her mouth, and disappeared again.

"What do you think?" asked the girl with her hair drawn back, watching his face as she pretended to pose for herself in the remarkably smooth mirror. Those shorts were a lot more revealing than the green skirt he had seen the miko wear, and the new girl was wearing a small strapless top.

He gave no reply, but she seemed happy nonetheless.

"Why?" he asked the miko simply, when there was a pause in the opening and closing of doors. She should know he was referring to this feminine torture, although she was browsing a circular display of feminine haoris. Were there so many people that they needed this much clothing? In multiple stores??

"It's spring, dummy," was her reply, perking up at a shirt and pulling it off the circular metal bar. She quickly put it back.

"And why are their clothes progressively smaller?" he inquired over his shoulder. He had a very good idea why, but he need to hear it to believe it.

The miko rolled her eyes. "It's spring, dummy..."

"It's my color, isn't it?"

Sesshomaru looked ahead again and could not help but to widen his eyes. Yes. It was DEFINITELY spring time, and the girl with brown hair was modeling her full bloom in barely anything, and that barely anything was black.

"That would be a bikini swimming suit, in case you're wondering," the miko supplied, humored by his complete loss of facial control. The modeling girl turned to show him her backside. "A _thong_ bikini... Yuka, you're horrible."

This lovely specimen, Yuka, glanced over her shoulder with a wink. "You know it!"

"You ARE wearing something under that, right?" the miko asked.

The girl pulled up an even thinner red strap from underneath the black one. "Yep!"

"... Ick," the miko muttered.

He loved the mall... He loved the future... He loathed the fact that they were all humans... If that girl was a strong demoness displaying herself like that then not even 'no' would be taken seriously, and not just by Sesshomaru.

The other two girls remained more covered than that, the miko not changing at all, and Sesshomaru got an ear-full of 'YUKA!' from his hostess when the bikini girl came out in jeans to see how a black silk breast holder with minute floral patterns at the top looked on her. And by examining how it looked on her, she was grabbing her chest and adjusting herself in every way 'decently' possible.

...

The future was not very bashful, was it... Amazingly, the clothes shopping came to a dead halt when he walked out of the store. The miko set aside the two things she had gathered and followed, not trusting him alone.

"Girls, we're leaving!" she called to the women still in their rooms. They gave very disapproving gasps.

"Hm, glad to see you're not mean just to me," the miko commented, watching her female companions scramble to clean out the little rooms they changed in.

"There are no limitations on who I dislike," he replied.

"Oh?" the miko asked. "You _dislike_ me? Really, if you're going to act immaturely all day, you can use the proper vocabulary."

He found himself smirking again, genuinely rather than to irk her. So, she was calling him immature? "Proper vocabulary? So says she who stomps her foot and crosses her arms with a pout."

"That's _perfectly _acceptable," she quipped. "In fact, playing the role of a bitchy woman has guided the hand of fate throughout history. Why, if women didn't act the way they did, none of us today would have ever been born! Just one little difference in the past, **one**, could change the entire future!"

_'Way to make sense, miko,'_ he thought sarcastically to himself. His senses were suddenly overrun by a horrid substance wafting in the air. It attacked his eyes and sinuses, and he was very close to lifting a sleeve protectively over his nose. The miko sniffed the air experimentally with a sickened expression.

"Oh! I've been meaning to try that!" the headband girl squealed, pointing frantically to a store. The accusatory party for this affront to decent air was in a little glass bottle and displayed in front of a women's face paints shop.

"Eri, please," the miko began, holding her nose closed. Seeing this, Sesshomaru didn't really mind covering his own. "That stuff reeks. You'll smell like it just walking by the store..."

"Oh, Kagome, have a little fun!"

"My sense of fun begins with a mild odor, thanks..."

To Sesshomaru's dread, each of the giggle-girls decided to try a spray of the prominent liquid reek. Then perhaps a hint of this one, and that one, and they liked the pink one's appearance so it probably smelled good?

Sesshomaru was exercising great self-control during his private bodily conniption. It got worse when they came up to the miko and himself, the girl sitting by herself on the nearby bench to wait out the stench contest with him.

"Kagome! You should consider this one! It's nice and mild!"

"No thanks, Ayumi," the miko grumbled from behind her hand. "Ugh... This smell could wake the dead..."

Sesshomaru gave the briefest silent chuckle, and noticed from his peripheral that the miko was giving him a perplexed stare for it. Well, her lack of attention got her sprayed by the 'mild' perfume.

"GAH!! Yuka!! Oh, kami, this stinks..."

Was she going to vomit then and there? She was over exaggerating.

"See? This is what happens when you don't hang out with us girls too often!" Yuka stated, hands on her hips, the sales woman snatching the bottle from her and returning it to the sample booth. "You don't wear makeup anymore, you don't try perfumes, and you're still wearing last year's summer clothes!"

The miko huddled on herself slightly, touching the quickly drying dampness and bringing it to her nose. "Well, I'm sorry, my bad. YOU'RE the one who stinks..."

The girl blanched, and gave Sesshomaru a quick glance to see that he couldn't possibly be less interested in this.

"Oh, shoot!!" the one with wavy hair cried. "The movie!!"

The women abruptly opened their small ringing button devices, cursed, and bolted in the same direction. ... That was sudden. Oh well. They wouldn't be hard to find with the way they smelled, so he took his time in following.

The females ran a long way, and it was indeed a very big building... The miko eventually rounded his corner quickly and actually smacked right into his chest.

"Watch it!" she yelled, suddenly realizing it was him. "Oh, THERE you are! Come on, they're saving seats already! Oh, crap, snacks. Forgot snacks."

What? No apology? That was so... So _her_. It was _unforgivable_. She was already walking into the building which had the shapes T-H-E-A-T-E-R at the top.

"Alright, here we are!" the miko stated, handing over a slip of paper to a young man. She suddenly pointed at Sesshomaru while he approached. "He's with me."

"... He's odd even for the movies," the bacterially plagued youth regarded Sesshomaru, scratching at his facial misfortune. "... Are those swords?"

"Fake!" the miko almost shrieked, looking mortified at Sesshomaru's weapons, strapped at his side like always. "Those are _so_ fake! Yes! Cosplaying! Much fun! Come on, Sessh-y!"

He stopped dead. "_**Sesshy**_?"

The miko offered a brief sheepish grin at the lad, and boldly scurried to Sesshomaru's side. "You can kill me later," she whispered, obviously knowing he'd hear her over the racket of the room. That's right, she said that a week ago too, didn't she?

He then learned why he'd want to kill her, because she audaciously clasped his wrist. That odd feeling from a week ago seeped into his skin again, the same as when she first dragged him into the barrier of the shrine. It was warm, and now that Sesshomaru got over the shock of being bodily grabbed more quickly than last time, he noted that her spiritual powers were glowing slightly in her palm. A warding.

Normally, such a thing would start to make his skin boil off his bones, but it didn't... Instead, it just made him immensely uncomfortable and easily pulled along while he stared in bewilderment at his hand. They walked for the small entry point where the young man was posted, and were stopped.

"Ma'am, you need two tickets..."

Sesshomaru took his wrist back, flexing his fingers experimentally. The twinge left his skin, and everything still worked. That woman needed to learn to control her powers, one way or another.

"W..." the miko began, looking at her hand as though staring hard enough would make the ticket divide. "Well, DAMN!" She spun on her heel, him following, and got in the back of a short line of people. They were literally in a line... Why? He was on the verge of asking, but she talked first. "Okay, I'm sorry about that, I know you hate being touched! By the way, 'Sesshomaru' is NOT a name in this time, and would actually be a very _weird_ name for humans. Swords are also VERY illegal and I am NOT putting up with a police riot in the _mall_! Your whole car fetish was bad enough!"

... Fetish?

She wasn't healthy for him... It was only fitting he'd return that favor, right?

"Explain," he stated simply.

She sighed and looked at the ceiling, as though begging it to come crashing down to meet her. "It's just the law here, alright? You can't walk around armed unless you have license to."

"... That is ridiculous," he replied, befuddled. Tenseiga woke up for the first time in a week to shiver at his side.

"It's to make sure people don't kill one another wildly through the streets," she supplied.

"And that's suppose to counter it's being ridiculous?" he asked.

"You're impossible," she laughed with disbelief. She looked very tired.

"And how does this Sesshomaru not have 'license' to wield a blade? I am a lord, not a peasant."

"Yeah, well, _here_, you're _nothing_," she rudely informed him. "Absolutely nothing, and don't you DARE kill me for saying the honest truth." ... Well... Damn, there went a good excuse. "And you need special training, alright? Usually that's for guns though."

"Training?" he breathed with disbelief. "Think six hundred years would do?"

She gave him a very flat stare, then smiled. "Nope! That won't do shit for you! So sorry." Sorry? She could apologize over that, but running into him was perfectly fine. "Dear kami, I _never_ thought I'd find anyone worse than Inuyasha..."

Worse?? How?? Than that family disgrace?? The day was very quickly deteriorating, and right before his eyes.

"I mean, he's not as self-righteous as you, so he didn't really get into things that belonged to others. He's also not as arrogant, but when he tried he was at least easy to talk down, or to sit," the miko prattled. The line shifted, and they moved forward. So, she thought of him as self-righteous and arrogant and hard to talk to? Excellent.

"Finally," the miko sighed, hopping up to the large desk. "I'd like one ticked for the two o'clock showing of Grudge, please!"

She had just hopped away like nothing had happened, and he was on the verge of speaking. He felt VERY out of character. Let's slit her in half and call the day good, shall we? No, she still wasn't paying attention to him...

"Sorry ma'am, we've sold out of them."

The miko's eyebrows tried to climb into her hair. "WHAT?!"

"Sorry ma'am. We do have some for later this evening if you're interested."

"Son of a-!" the miko bit her lip for the rest of that statement, showed her palms to the window with the metal vent and a dipping hole carved under it into the of the desk, and walked away.

And that was it. The timing was completely vanquished. That's alright, he'll murder her on the other side of the well anyway... Ruining her day further would have to do.

"I must say, standing in line should not have the unique name of 'movie'," Sesshomaru commented.

"Cram it, _Sesshy," _she grumbled miserably. They were outside the theater, her sitting on a bench and playing with the beeping device which she and her friends all stared at before booking it for the movie. She sighed. "And they already turned off their cell phones for the movie... Sheesh, this is just perfect." She rubbed her index fingers against her temples in what was suppose to be a soothing fashion, but sorely failed. Fine, he'll let her be miserable, and then when she was happy again he was going to ruin that mood.. "I need a nap... I haven't had a _decent_ night's sleep -thanks to someone- since getting back..."

She certainly enjoyed talking to herself... If she wanted to sleep then she could curl up there on the long seat and be done with it.

Instead, she stood and offered him a smile. "It's amazing! You can destroy my day without even trying!" With that, she turned around and walked out the nearby push-doors and into daylight.

For some reason, her bad moods were more satisfying when he tried.

* * *

**A/N:** Alright, I'm breaking this off _again! _The next chapter starts right where this left off, but don't worry, you shouldn't have to re-read this chapter's ending to make sense of things.

And, WOW... I can't believe how many reviews I got for the last chapter! It was... AWESOME!! And within a day, I was amazed!Thank you everyone! I adore you all!


	10. The Wound

**A/N:** Just so you're substantially and sufficiently warned, I'm writing this with Linkin Park playing. On loop. Not their heavy metal though, I have a hard time enjoying that sort. In particular, the songs are What I've Done, In the End, Breaking the Habit, and Numb. I love them.

Enjoy the chapter! I know I did! Review and let me know my weak/strong points please! :D

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**The Wound**

"Just a few more blocks," the miko began muttering five minutes after leaving the mall. "Just five more, and you can drop onto your pillow and into dreamland, where there are no demons, just hot, plain-faced men ready to bend to your every whim... Yes, good naps..."

... Sesshomaru was traveling with an insane miko. To spare himself, he walked behind her, a ways, and let his mind wander.

He began to think about Rin... It was odd how often she sneaked into his mind and jumped onto his trains of thought, smiling and giggling all the while, like she would when he'd return to his time.

Of course, Tenseiga was bent on other matters which were inconveniently out of hand.

_'You woke up,' _Sesshomaru thought, the blade shivering up to a notable shake, as though someone were taping their nails repeatedly at its end. Other than that, the blade was silent in Sesshomaru's mind, and didn't try to move him in any direction.

"... have a bath. That'll be wonderful before the nap. Something to take away the freakin' headache."

Onto other matters...

Tenseiga did stir earlier, but also over nothing. At least, nothing he would notice. The miko had made an angry comment about the law, and Tenseiga should know that its master really did not care about the laws of that time. In fact, he didn't even care about the miko being angry over the law breaking, or even if he was the one to do it. Come to think of it, it may prove to be entertaining...

Tenseiga jumped once, then settled to its normal shaking. That blasted sword... It just had to wake up and sink his day like an anchor. Again. And to think that this time, when he actually _wanted_ it to talk, it remained silent and fed on his confusion. So, unwittingly, he followed the miko up the steps to the shrine, and there was a hiss and he was suddenly doused in... Something. What the-?

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" the miko bellowed, running in place for half a second to burn off her anger. "I hate spring!!" She stormed up the rest of the steps, sopping wet, and growled about 'sprinklers'.

It was water. Had she never been rained on before? It was quite natural, and a relief in the summer... Although he heard humans were weakened when they were wet. Such a frail plague on the lands, really.

Tenseiga didn't seem to enjoy the sprinklers too much either...

As Sesshomaru neared the barriers, youki coiling up to fight them, the sword pulsed and the barriers opened wide to allow Sesshomaru through.

...

"You remained asleep out of spite, I presume?" Sesshomaru asked it, stepping through unharmed. The barrier mended, and appeared as though nothing had happened.

Wet little shoe prints littered the solid stone underfoot, and following it Sesshomaru saw the house door shut with a 'wham', the miko's recent special way of announcing her presence.

Sesshomaru had been entertained with puzzling facts and staring at the slowly darkening sky when some familiar, unwanted smells permeated the air.

"Oh! It's him!" came a voice.

'Please, kami, no more,' he thought. The miko's three friends came scurrying up to him, the one with the shortest, brown hair taking the lead in leaps and bounds.

"Oh!! That movie was WRETCHEDLY horrible!!" she pretended to sob, coming to a stop in front of him. She was clutching her hands in front of her chest, pouting, and trying her darnest to summon tears.

... He pointed at the house.

"Yuka, we're here for Kagome, remember?" the other two, thank all that is good, stated while guiding her away.

Sesshomaru's mind was beginning to wander off again when they came out of the house, the mother smiling at waving goodbye at the door. That was... Unfortunately fast.

"Hey!" the brown haired girl giggled, sitting suddenly at his feet. He was sitting on one of the many decorative cement walls, back against the sloping stairs and legs comfortably in front of him.

He scowled. She giggled.

Where was that miko to take them away...?

"Do you know what's wrong with Kagome?" the smallest of stature, wavy haired girl inquired.

"Tired," he supplied. He didn't really know. She should be seen as fine by their simple human standards.

"She seems **really** out of it," commented the girl with her hair pulled back.

"Or _into_ something," the short haired girl suggested, sucking her lower lip and giving Sesshomaru a look, eyebrows dancing in what she probably deemed to be a tantalizing manner...

... _'Go away,' _he thought.

"Yeah right," the girl with her hair pulled back laughed.

"Did you guys notice the bandage?" asked the wavy haired girl.

Bandage?

"Hah! Yeah, you only pointed it out 'discretely' a dozen times," scoffed the brown haired girl. "Which was rather rude of you, Ayumi."

"I was only concerned," the girl replied. "Besides, there was fresh blood seeping through. I was worried, it looked like a huge bat came down and bit her..."

... ... Hm... ... ...

"Good thing that's unlikely," the girl with her hair pulled back stated, giving a bit of a shiver. "Nasty things..."

"They'll be out soon," the girl with brown hair teased. With that stated, they said their goodbyes quickly, the girl with the bat discomfort fleeing for her home down the steps.

Sesshomaru suddenly loved bats, but that was beside the point.

"What do you want?" the miko asked over a bowl of food, sitting at that oddly tall table with the rest of her family. Sesshomaru unceremoniously grabbed right above her left elbow and lifted her up. "HEY!! Wha-!"

_Riiiiiiip!_

The miko stared with him at the bandage hidden under a thin shirt, strapped over her left shoulder.

"What is this?" he demanded coolly. She turned a mortified look at him, and tried to shake out of his grasp. Hah. Good luck there.

"You KNOW what it is," she hissed, now prying at his fingers with her other hand.

"Lord Sesshomaru," began the grandfather, for once not seeming completely enthralled with whatever was happening. "If you are done manhandling my granddaughter, then you may join us for dinner if you choose."

... That was a good way of phrasing things. Sesshomaru let the miko drop back into her seat to fondle the newly ripped shirt.

"Or if you'd prefer, the spare bedroom is still open to you," the mother stated warmly.

"Bastard," the miko grumbled, watching the section of fabric fold back down her arm for the fifth time. "I'm going to have to sew that you know!"

He scowled at her, and she returned the favor.

He grabbed her again and hauled her outside.

"Or not," the grandfather sighed.

"What are you _thinking?!" _the miko demanded, flaring some energy at him and forcing him to release her arm. "Are you thinking?! I was eating! What caused this!"

"Your condition is failing, miko," he warned her. Why the hell was she letting this happen? She needed to stick around and make the well work, not go ahead and forever train her powers into a wound that needed healing. It use to be sealed, but she apparently half-assed the job.

She openly stared at him. "Yeah, I have a tendency of noticing that."

"Fix it."

"I've been trying!"

"No, you have not."

She bugged her eyes angrily at him and pursed her lips. "You have NO idea what it's like to use spiritual powers, so don't you DARE tell me if I'm trying or not, you regal son of a -"

A sound _slap_ echoed in the shrine grounds, and Tenseiga was suddenly still with shock. So was the miko, but she was holding her flushed and slowly reddening face.

"No excuses."

Her powers lit. "Why you!"

His powers roared, and sent her careening to her hands and knees. She stared at the ground, mouth gapped for air. The smell of fresh blood greeted him, as he had expected.

Kneeling at her frozen side, he ripped the bandage away and watched the skin underneath tint black, fresh blood flowing freely from the once scabbed over holes.

"Some miko you have turned out to be," he stated in a normal tone, dropping the scrap material in front of her and retaining his energy into himself. She gasped for air. "You can't even destroy the taint in you."

"It," she breathed horsely, "was SEALED!"

"But it was THERE," he scolded, standing.

"So _what_?!" she demanded. "Why would you care? It's ME! You _dislike_ me, remember?!"

"Do not be a fool," he seethed, watching as she slowly regained her feet. "A miko bearing a plague is a meal for any demon. Do you know why that creature greeted us at the well a week ago?"

"Because it was convenient?" she replied sarcastically.

This was annoying. "Because there was a powerful miko losing a battle nearby, _that's_ why." Was he angry? He certainly felt like it. It was amazing this woman, this human, had survived for so long.

She scoffed. "What? Think it just wanted to eat me? There are plenty of others here to eat, it was coincidence."

... Wow... This was almost blasphemy.

"Have you been properly trained, miko?" Sesshomaru inquired. She gave an obvious flinch.

"Here and there," she replied, fixing her burning gaze on him. It was amazing how hot those cool sapphire pools could look.

He blinked. "Would 'here and there' be implying training in both times, or immensely infrequently?"

A little flush sprinkled itself onto her cheeks, barely there. "I'd be leaning towards the 'infrequently' one..." She forced her face to its normal tone. "But that doesn't say I'm horrible at using my powers, got it?!"

He blinked again. "On the contrary, it screams it."

Did she think he would melt under her stare eventually?

"You are SUCH an ASS!" she yelled, a warm evening breeze suddenly tossing her hair. She raked it under control with her nails, and quickly continued. "So what if I haven't had a ridiculous amount of training? I can get over this infection, I just need ti-"

"You do not have time," he bit out, making her stand still with a slightly worried expression. He moved more quickly than she could register, and placing his right palm on her wound and gripping. She buckled, a cut off cry escaping her.

Not wanting her to fall out of his grasp, Sesshomaru placed his left hand around her hip and pulled her to him, her frail body pressed firmly to his armor. Her right palm lifted to push away, and Sesshomaru became a bit exasperated. She needed to know the seriousness of this.

He focused some energy into her wound, making it react to the familiar essence. The miko bit her lip and slammed her forehead against his chest, trying to make him let go and quite possibly breaking her nose against the rim of his armor. She was so weak, and had so much potential. Not that he would ever let her reach that potential, least he have to fear for his life. But this being who activated the well, whether she knew it or not, needed to stay alive.

"I know you feel what this taint does," he stated, unable to keep the gravely growl of displeasure from his words. "How it seeps with a cold poison through your body, and touches your soul. How weak you physically become, and how your powers overexert themselves to compensate for lost time. You can seal your soul from this taint, but not your body." He squeezed her shoulder, making her cry out in pain and slam her fist against his arm. It wasn't the pressure on the bite which hurt her, but his contact was enhancing the spread of her taint. "The more it seeps, the worse this will get, little miko. What do you think you can do when this enters your blood?" A whimper was his reply. He stepped away and let go, and she went to her knees yet again that evening, clutching herself like she was suddenly dropped into winter conditions, shivering uncontrollably.

It took her quite a while to regain herself, trying to stand at first but deciding that sitting on the ground against the wall would be better.

"Why?" she finally managed, raising her head. He was surprised to see tears streaming down her cheeks. Did it really hurt that bad? "Why are you trying to make my life hell?"

He felt himself frown slightly. "It certainly seems easy to do. However, this you have brought onto yourself."

Her lips trembled and she lowered her forehead to her raised knees, arms hugging her legs. He was not the type to sympathize a downward emotional spiral, let alone tolerate it. He smoothly knelt down and grabbed her chin harshly, bringing her eyes to his.

"Do you want to die?" he asked, holding her as she tried to shake her head away.

"What? I can't even cry!?" she whimpered. "You're such a-"

"Not by my hand," he stated. "We already established this."

She was looking more haggard and miserable by the second as the gears in her mind turned.

"No," she cried, her hot tears following his finger and thumb where they seized her face. She was crying so hard that her eyes leaked in both corners and flowed over her lower lashes. "I don't want to die! I haven't even been kissed yet, for kami's sake!!"

... That had NOTHING to do with what was at hand... But, apparently, she wanted to live, whatever her reasons may be.

"Good," he stated, releasing her. "Then go to sleep, and be ready to learn how to survive when you wake up."

She blinked up at him, confused, but excused herself with a nod. She needed to use the wall to get to her feet, and followed it into her home.

Sesshomaru heard the mother asking frantic questions when the door closed, and walked away. Oh, the unnecessary things he got himself into... First lordship, then becoming a master, then an adoptive father, then a guard. Now he had a night before becoming a miko trainer. But that last would be a short experience, and very limited. Even though he was a demon, he was indeed not ignorant of spiritual powers. He knew more about them that the woman who was currently crawling up the stairs on all fours for her bedroom. And tomorrow, she'll know exactly why.

* * *

**A/N:** How was it?? It's interesting how these things come about... I mean, they actually touched, heaven forbid! P

And to all of those who hate me, I do sympathize with Kagome, I _really_ do, but it's a necessary evil, I promise!

Next chapter, the training begins, and perhaps a little something else with it! Please tell me where I erred, please! A good review is welcomed as well!


	11. Did You Catch That?

**A/N:** I know. I've given Kagome ample reason to hate me. But the more she suffers, the more Sesshomaru will reap from it. And I use the word 'reap' in a very 'you're going down' way.

**ALSO!! **Expect a lot of name-calling, some of it being 'colorful'. I don't know if that falls under the rating I have already, but I'll be announcing things here for the bashful/verbally affronted readers from now on. Maybe I'll start writing chapter summaries, I'm not sure. They're certainly getting long enough to have that…

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Did You Catch That?**

And there it was.

Finally, after three hours of instructing a groggy miko who almost had to be dragged from her bed, the sun came up.

That, and she finally got what Sesshomaru had been trying to show her.

"... What is that?" she asked slowly, looking at the pinprick of blue light hovering above her out held palms. It winked out, and she blinked. "Well, damn."

Okay, maybe she didn't get it, but at least she accomplished something. This was probably going to take longer than he thought, he could tell by how easily his muscles settled into his seated stance across from her, in front of the dysfunctional well. They needed to do this in a place that would always be shadowed, so she could see the auras more easily.

"It is a start," he uttered, holding out his own hand and bringing into his palm some special energy. He wasn't about ready to tell her what they were 'messing around' with, because he knew that the knowledge would scare her half to death. Literally. The energy seeped from his skin and turned into red ball the size of a man's fist within his palm, and quickly forming into a flame it hovered in the air. "This is what we need to see though."

"Sesshomaru, you know my energy's low," the miko stated. Again. Her excuses were tiring. "And I'm hungry, you almost dragged me out of the kitchen by my _hair_. If you waited all night, or most of it, then you could have waited two more minutes for the toaster... Now it's probably cold-"

"Miko," he addressed her, making her look up and stop her ramblings.

"It's **Kagome**, you thick-headed prick!" she growled.

Whatever. At least he had her attention. "I said you could eat your fill as soon as you fully understood this."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "I understand the _concept_." Her fiery spirit shone through the shadows when she opened them again, staring him down with glimmering blue orbs. Did she even realize all the body language she gave off daily?

"Understanding a concept is not the same as understanding the process," he informed her in a neutral tone, a tad affronted by her visual challenge. "Your performance here is not entirely based off of your energy levels. You would have to be dead to not be able to do this, miko."

She wrinkled her nose at him, a step down from sticking out her tongue like she had been doing earlier. He figured that such an expression was a stubborn denial of her confusion. "That's nothing practice can't handle…"

"From the beginning again."

Grumbling, she shifted to get comfortable, and holding her hands out she closed her eyes and stilled. She never meditated before today, but she got it quickly enough.

"Stop cursing me under your breath and focus," he ordered as her lips began to shift ever so slightly.

About seven minutes of this passed, and then Sesshomaru sensed her spiritual powers flowing in a different direction. It was calm, controlled, alive, and it made his own energy roil in reply.

"Good," he encouraged, stomping his power into submission. A few seconds later the darkness was pierced again, an infinitely small yet brilliant light source hovering in her hand.

The miko slowly opened one eye, the second opening when the pinprick in space didn't immediately die in horror of seeing her looking at it.

It didn't go out yet, so she experimentally jostled her palms. It stayed in its place in the air, undisturbed and flickering brightly. It was then that she gave Sesshomaru a brilliant smile, which made him blink. "It's like magic!" She went back to staring at her tiny creation, absolutely thrilled.

A smirk was tugging at his lips, but he suppressed it. She was so happy over so little, even though said little was very important. He was ready to comment on its size, but of late the one thing to make the miko's accomplishments wink out was his disturbing her.

"So, I can make this bigger?" she asked, glancing at him past her little light. He nodded. Her eyes were almost unnerving when they shone like that, flickering wildly with her spirit and its raw energy held in her hand, making her skin glow a faint blue. She almost didn't look real. His own energy, the demon, knew she was very real though, and it wanted to kill her and be done with this threat.

And her smile was real as she focused on the little dot in the air, her hands rubbing around it like they were stroking an invisible barrier ball.

"How do I make it grow?"

"You know how," he stated. He already repeated the facts more times than necessary.

"Yeah, but I'm not feeling what you told me to sense."

"What do you feel now then?"

"Warm," she smiled. She was too damn happy. "Excited. It feels like it's a little sun, radiating."

"And you don't feel that radiating sensation anywhere else?" he asked experimentally. "Inside, not outside."

"Well, yeah, I always do," she stated sarcastically with a smirk.

His energy was itching under his skin now, trying to ghost her. This was becoming annoying. "Then draw it out."

"I don't know how," she fell back into her common statement, the smile gone.

"Guide it, move it," he suggested. This was tiring, as a pup he got this within ten minutes. "Take control of it and shift it to your liking."

"I like it right where it is, thank you," she replied.

"Alright, then move it to where _I_ like it so we can move on with this."

She pouted her lower lip slightly, probably not noticing it, and shifting she focused sternly on the tiny spot.

He could almost hear her bargaining with it now. 'You know you want to,' and 'if you don't you're going to die because I'll starve to death right here on the spot,' and let's not forget her favorite, 'work, damn you, work!'. And yes, she did just yell that one to herself, because her lips pursed and she was glaring.

"Do you have an item you usually concentrate on?"

Poof. It was gone. She turned that glare onto him.

"A what?" she snapped.

"Something you channel your powers through," he reiterated.

"Yeah, but that's not here right now," she replied.

He frowned. Was it in the past? "What would that be?"

"The Shikon no Tama," she replied. "It took me a while, but I realized it harnessed my energy for me. That's why the shards automatically purified for me, along with other things."

A very familiar 'Find the Jewel' started running laps in Sesshomaru's mind, his energy trying to lash out at the miko while his concentration was divided.

"Have you found anything else then?" he asked, beating his enraged heritage into submission.

"Well, Miroku would sometimes make us hold hands and practice with my energy channeling, although I thought he was trying something else at first... I don't have too good of control over my powers, and he'd sometimes pull away and start cursing rather colorfully for a monk. He always said he was fine, but after the first week he stopped trying and just said I was powerful enough without training."

So, it was the monk who was going to pay for Sesshomaru's wasted time? That was something to look forward to upon returning.

"Not that I'm suggesting holding hands or anything," the miko continued, filling her uncomfortable silence. "I mean, that would just be wrong in more ways than I can count."

"Indeed," he agreed. She looked affronted then, but that wasn't important. "Try again."

This lasted for another hour, until the miko began storming away to make her stomach stop growling. But time was not wasted.

"Miko, where do you draw the line between spiritual and demon powers?" They were still in the kitchen, and she leaning against the long table top that coupled the wall.

"M!" was her first reply to the question, around a bite and a half of bread stuffed with cold meat and cheese and lettuce, some sauces included. She bounded her butt off the counter and began to walk around a little, masticating. "They feel different. One's good, one's evil."

"Wrong."

She looked at him, annoyed. Good, that made two of them. "Care to explain then?"

It was very hard resisting rolling his eyes with a sigh and surrendered shoulders. This was impossible. A miko with her potential couldn't possibly be this ignorant, correct? Surely she had been informed on the _qualities_ of each power?

"Merely different forms of energy," he supplied. "Opposites. Counterparts. But they are complimentary."

"I don't need a thesaurus," she stated around a small smirk, which shifted loose some crumbs.

"No, more of a definition," he clarified. A sudden example hit him then, though she needed provoking. "I am going to grab your throat and kill you now."

Her eyes widened when he appeared before her and his hand lifted, and his thrust out fingers met a barrier.

"See this?" he asked her, sparing very little energy to crackle against her own, hand slowly passing through to make more energy contact across his palm, down his wrist, auras battling. Her petrifaction was amusing. He wasn't going to do anything bad, he just needed her personal barrier up. "It's like the magnets. They can be the same material in every way possible, but when turned at opposing angles their energies are opposites."

Her brows were knitted with concentration, his fingers mere inches from her neck, and adding more power she sent his hand shooting back and over his shoulder.

"You _don't_ have to risk my life to explain polar energies!" she yelled, holding her throat now with worry.

"You would be the one risking your own life here, miko," he stated, smelling fresh blood coming from her shoulder wound. She looked so confused, and it was such a simple concept already to him. "Have you seen a demon consume the soul of a spiritual being?" Her eyes opened slightly more, a sign of recognition. "How do you suppose that soul can be consumed without purifying the consumer?"

She began looking from side to side. No, the answer was not going to be found there.

"I don't understand. They just eat it, right?"

"To add to their demonic powers, yes," he supplied, slumping his shoulders ever so slightly. "It is basically asking if a poisonous snake will eat a poisonous toad?"

"N-no?" she asked. "They're not the same."

Good.

"So if the energies are like two poisons... ... Why then?" the miko pursued the topic, finally ignoring her threatened neck and hand fondling her sandwich again. "Aren't they too different?"

"No."

She was befuddled by such a blunt answer. "So, where do _you_ draw the line?"

Oye... Where? That was an easier answer for the ignorant.

"Demon power, -youki, bad vibes, dangerous auras, however you wish to identify it- is an inherited manifestation of a soul. That is the simplistic definition of it. Spiritual power is also an alteration, but rather than passing though generations, it passes through karma from host to host. The better of a person you were in a past life, the stronger it is in the next; if unharnessed."

He paused. She looked like she was staring at something on the other side of his head.

"... Alright, I'm lost," she sighed, taking another bite. "Mind if I ponder that info during a bath?"

He gave the barest of nods and she hurried off, stuffing the rest of her little meal into her mouth.

"Oh! I'm still mad you for that slap from before!"

… Hm? Oh, that. Funny, but not. There was a long story ahead, and this gave Sesshomaru time to sort out the facts he had learned as a child...

"Alright," the miko sighed, putting a peculiar device at her side as she joined him outside. She had found him at his favorite little wall for morning basking. "This is a tape recorder. I think you don't want to repeat yourself, so just tell me what you need to and I can listen to it again on the tape."

She had to spend five minutes showing him how the device worked, her not letting him touch it until he took it. The device was defective; his voice wasn't that high pitched… He began the lecture anew.

"What do you remember?" he asked, watching as she hit the red button and the little gears spun slowly.

"Thaaaaaaaaat..." she looked at the sky as though her eyes could roll back and search her brain for the answer. "Demon and spiritual energies are the same, but come to their bearers in different manners. I still don't get the soul eating bit though... And why you related energies to poison..."

He nodded minutely. "The poisons were to further demonstrate that the same thing can be very different depending on the host."

"Got it," she affirmed, glancing up as the sun beamed for the first time over the tree tops. "And the soul eating?"

"Soul consumption has its limits. A demons can absorb souls, but monks and priestesses may not. Neutral souls, which every other living being has, are an energy source which can tilt to either side; or polarity, as you called it."

She looked to be thinking, and when she glanced up from the silence to see him staring she gave a start. "I was just thinking about Naraku. He use to be human."

That was a bit off the beaten path... "No weak, neutral soul could fully consume a demonic or spiritual essence into itself. Rather, it becomes possessed. Naraku was a collaboration of weak demons, which needed a mortal to chain them together, and would never become a full demon by absorbing more demons into a human heart. His efforts were futile."

The miko nodded, Tenseiga hummed happily. It enjoyed this.

"Alright, I understand that," she confirmed.

"Summarize," he ordered.

"EH??" she asked, completely caught off guard. "W-what?? But-"

"Summarize."

She looked flustered, and refused to meet his eyes. A cricket was chirping the day a greeting. "Um... Demons can eat souls, huma- I mean, neutral souls can try, but won't do it completely, and spiritual people can't at all?" She looked at him for confirmation, and his silence seemed to do. "So, is there a trade off for mikos and monks not absorbing souls?"

What a displeasing topic… "Whereas demons may devour a soul and let the spirit pass, your kind has the power to utterly destroy both," he replied. She gave a horrible flinch and blinked at him a lot, disbelief practically waving flags across her young features. "That links back to power inheritance." He swore that cricket chirp was suddenly coming from her head...

"... And?" she asked.

He really did sigh then.

"HEY!!" she yelled, shooting onto one knee on the wall. "In case you're wondering, I'm NOT an idiot!! Sure I may be human, but considering _you_ have all the time in the world compared to me then I'd say we're making progress by my even _being_ here!"

"Hn," he scoffed. "Your shortened life is your choice."

She flinched with a hand warily before her. "Is that a threat, **buddy**?"

He blinked at the peculiar ring on the last word. "Was that a challenge?"

"It was a _question_, you _ass_!" she yelled, planting her tiny fists on her still swelling hips. Puberty was an odd thing to go through, and he was glad to already be over his. Actually, that _may_ describe her mood swings... "And _stop_ staring at me like I'm a puzzle!"

"This Sesshomaru can not help but to puzzle out what is confusing."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh, so _I'm_ confusing?!"

"Indeed."

"How?" she demanded, leaning at him and glaring right into his eyes. "_You're_ the one who's wrapped himself in mystery! You're standoffish, arrogant, self righteous, egotistical, pompous, emotionless, boring, too self-reliant and just plain rude!"

He smirked, and she gave a start. "A fitting way to counter your downfalls."

She seriously paled. "You- ... You indignant... MUTT!!"

Anger burst to life in him and began consuming all sense in rapid procession, the demon leaping to action. When he blinked again he saw through blood-flushed eyes that he had the miko by her skinny throat, her flesh flexing tenderly against his grip, and he was growling mere inches from her face.

"-ARU!" he heard the end of her yell. "Let me go!! SESSHOMARU!!"

A MUTT!! She called him, the Lord of the Western Lands a meager **mutt**!! Was he as low as Inuyasha in her opinion? This was intolera-!

A very odd sensation ignited in his cheek and spread across his face, and when he blinked a few times the red was gone and he wasn't looking directly at the miko. In fact, his gaze was interrupted and turned ever so slightly off.

"Let me go," she warned, only one hand holding his wrist now. The other was still hanging in the air.

She _did_ do that, didn't she? Sesshomaru hadn't been slapped in the face for... ... He couldn't recall the last time. He expected to be roiling mad over this indignation. She should be dead, and bleeding, and dead, and possibly decapitated, but most importantly, dead.

Instead, she was rubbing her non severed neck as he sat back into his seated position, thinking.

"You deserved it," she stated, some energy unconsciously flowing into the nail wounds he left in her flesh.

Yeah. He could think of a couple of things that he deserved that for, but to have her actually come out and attack him, and _succeed_... Well, he'd admit it to himself, that was pretty damn good for her.

"Next time, expect to not keep the hand," he warned her.

"Next time, don't throw a tantrum!" she fired back.

He gave up with the regal appeal and rolled his eyes at her. "Is this a general female issue?"

Her eyes bugged. "And are _you_ just an issue that happens to be a male?! I must say that for all the shit you've pulled, I'm a rather damn good 'female' who is NOT one of your meager subjects and who should be treated better than one!"

... There she was, getting clever again. Sesshomaru wasn't going to argue over the blatantly obvious, no matter how much it tainted his pride. Not that it did...

"And I may be a human," she continued, becoming the stubborn embodiment of determination itself, "but from what you've said so far, even though we're opposites, we're equals, just different."

"There is the potential," he agreed, wanting oh so much to destroy her and any woman like her. "Being equals, however, is far out of your reach, little miko."

She leveled a very perturbed look at him. "It's **Kagome**."

"Summarize."

"Ga?" she asked intellectually. "Wh- Y- GAAAAAAAAAH!! You son of a bitch, we were just talking about something else!"

He smirked.

"FINE!!" she yelled, crossing her arms. The air was thick with how deeply she stared at it. "... We didn't establish _anything_ aside from you being a complete jerk! And you still have yet to answer two questions of mine!"

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yeah!" she informed, sounding like she just scored a point in something. "First, is there a trade off for the lack of soul absorption? I understand how each power is _used_ differently, and it's rather sad and shocking, but I want to know _why_ it's like that."

Ah. That one. "Mm. Demons are capable of converting energy, and because of this we can utilize it for anything we choose, at the cost of vague mutations. Humans like you cannot absorb souls, but recycle your energy by either gathering loose particles from your surroundings or training. Because there is no full absorption for your kind, there is no bodily effect, and the spirit is left to harbor this energy until the next capable host it is transferred to."

She stared at him. "THAT'S suppose to be an answer?? And would you please stop saying 'your kind', it's annoying. I'm not one of them by choice."

He stared back, continuing his thoughts on whether this was really possible, or even happening.

"So, what kind of mutations are there for demons? There's loose energy? How do I gather it more quickly?"

He was also reminiscing his decisive dislike for questions.

Tenseiga hummed at him to be patient. Oh yes, his father left him a fine nanny.

"Do you believe I choose the shape of my ears right now?" he asked. "The color of my eyes? My markings? Everything physical and alters from your average appear human is a trade-off for power channeling capabilities, determined in the adolescent stage of life."

"Why then?" she asked, looking quite interested.

Was the well sure it didn't want to work again?

"That is when a demon's life is matured enough in its body to be drawn out," he stated. "When it comes to age differences, I have changed in two hundred years as much as you would within one year. And you are suppose to be learning how to collect energy from your surroundings as we speak, not about this."

She gapped. "You've aged _that_ little?! How?!"

"I stated that answer already," he found himself nearly growling. "Listen to the recorder."

She shifted. "I forgot about that..."

"_You_ brought it out here," he mentioned, voice deadpanned.

"I know that!" she snapped, taking a breath. "Alright, that leaves my other question."

"It's been answered," he informed, confused. She certainly brought up a few questions, but he answered those.

"No, about the longevity thing. What did you mean by mentioning it the first time?"

Their conversation painfully looped in his head. "Your shortened life is your choice," he repeated himself. Repetition was quickly taking the lead with the list of things that annoyed him. The miko was still at the top though.

"How is it my choice?" she asked.

"You can lengthen your time," he said, intrigued that she didn't already assume as much. Her expression revealed that she hadn't expected as much either. "When you gather all your strength again, that is. You have enough power to outlive me if you so chose."

She blinked at him as though his lips were suddenly replaced with flapping tentacles. "Really?"

"Yes," he gave an honest answer. "Not at the rate of your training though... You'll be dead before you can focus yours spirit into your hand."

"... My what?" she asked, still shocked.

"Your power," he clarified, wincing inside at his slip. That was easy to cover though. "Spiritual source, miko supplies, energy well..."

"I know already you walking dictionary!" she yelled.

"Thesaurus."

She boiled over, and he soon found himself back next to the broken well, into which she had to jump for the experiment. It still didn't work, but she had her personal time at the bottom to curse him and the beings who created him out. In other words, she was completely fine and acting according to her nature, as far as he could see.

Only five minutes after clambering out she was able to summon the spark into her hands, which brought them back to the dilemma of her not knowing what to do next.

"How is THIS going to help?!" she demanded, running out of the house with bow and arrow in hand.

"We'll see," was his reply. She had a few problems with using her house and the shrines as targets.

"My aim is better than that, I don't need the side of a barn," she stated, confusing him again. They weren't barns… "how about the fence? I can hit the wood stakes."

Sesshomaru glanced over at the shabby structure which she called a fence, its wood as separated as it was wide. There was a bit of a forest behind it though, so he supposed it would be fine.

Her pose was struck and her weapon lifted. Sesshomaru watched as she summoned her powers in a very foreign way, pulling it from her actual body rather than from her surroundings, like her kind usually did.

"And I hold it like this?" she asked, shaded by the tree of ages in the morning light. It wasn't long before her arm began to waver from the long drawing of the bow. "Um, what am I suppose to see?"

Sesshomaru was smitten with the desire to slap himself in the forehead as he stood a ways to her side to watch.

"Hey sis!"

"Not now Sota!" she yelled, her little brother running up the shrine steps and staying only five feet away from the arrow's path. He was in a uniform with a white ball in hand, precisely placed black shapes on it. "And get out of the way, won't you!?"

"Close your eyes," Sesshomaru told her. She needed to feel this, not see it, she was missing the point. She looked at him with a muddled expression, shoulders moving slightly as she turned her head, and that expression soon turned to shock when her fingers slipped.

Sesshomaru saw the slip, and a split second later seized the arrow in mid air. A wave of spiritual power came crashing after it, and it was rather annoying how much it stung even while being deflected.

The little boy was horrified when he blinked to see an arrow held a foot away from his chest.

"W-!" he whined, falling to his bottom and the ball rolling away. "What just happened…?"

"Sota!!" the miko wailed, dropping her weapon and rushing to her brother. She skid to her knees and embraced his now shaking self, tears in both their eyes. "Oh, kami, Sota!! I'm so sorry!!"

Sesshomaru tossed the arrow aside and examined his palm, the wooden shaft having left its imprint. It was rather deep, and still stinging with the purification energy. Damn. That would take a few days to heal…

"Thank you."

He turned and regarded the miko, her face shadowed by her bangs as the boy stared in shock over her shoulder, moisture beading from his eyes. Her hands were knotted in the jersey top, its fabric odd and catching the light like dull metal. Her shoulders shook, and fear was wafting from her.

"Thank you," she repeated herself, hugging the boy tighter.

Sesshomaru watched this for a moment, and left. The training could wait a little while.

* * *

**A/N:** Target practice! -hides from reader assaults-

I know, that was random and cruel, but everything I write has a reason for it, so… I hope you liked it!

Reviews please! Flames are still welcomed, but I don't want them to be for something like: OMG!! How dare you, WTF was that?! Those sort give me a bad impression on people, I'd rather adore all of you! :D


	12. Surprise Thanks

**A/N:** I promised to myself to get a little touchy feely in this chapter in honor of all the reviews I got for chapter ten. :D I about died of shock when I checked my inbox and saw that many messages! You guys have no idea how excited that made me!! I adore you all, there's no escape now.

Enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Surprise Thanks**

"**WHAAAAT!?****"** was the noise to erupt from the house at dinner time. Apparently the miko told her mother and grandfather why the boy was keeping to himself. The miko's friends had made a similar noise when they came over to see how she was, common curiosity on the bandage. She had eased them easily enough, and Sesshomaru was invited to see one of those movies if a few days. He didn't really see what was so exciting about a movie. It was getting together to TV, right?

Some frantic discussion began after the outburst, and Sesshomaru easily shut it out. Many subjects crossed his conscious, such as Rin and Jaken, Bashamon, his predicament, and how pieces were lined up to render the future as they had. He was pondering the burns in his hand again when the sun began failing the day, curling his fingers and thumb to see where the arrow had nestled in his grip. Looking down the tunnel of his gripped hand, he easily shifted his knuckles and lined them up to make a clear and decently sized hole where the bulges of his skin use to be.

He regarded approaching footsteps with a glance, and was intrigued to see the mother standing a good twenty feet away. She bowed properly to him, hands folded meekly over her lap as her waist bent.

"Thank you for saving my son, my Lord," she spoke formally. So far, only the grandfather had called him a lord, so this was good to his ears. "It was very courteous and noble of you. My sincerest thanks are yours, and please allow me to return your deed in some way."

She didn't expect a reply from him, for she bowed and reentered her home. This gave Sesshomaru something else to think about. She used the word noble in a manner he realized was new, in reference to him. She did not say regal, or stately, or even compliment him like his retainers always did with the word majestic. She said he was noble, and it made him feel… good. Very good. She wasn't seeing him for his class, but rather hinted at it while complimenting his character and moral, and it was a surprisingly great feeling.

Tenseiga shook with a giggle at him. Fine, let the sword be humored. Sesshomaru wondered if the blade remembered his father experiencing such a thing; someone not fearing him, and giving him an honest judgment.

He heard himself chuckling, and decided to enjoy the rare laugh. He didn't know if he was elated or joining Tenseiga in the humor, but either way it was good.

The sun set.

Lights were turned off.

The night had settled on the shrine, and Sesshomaru was sitting in his usual spot on the short wall against the stairs. It did give him an excellent view of the soupy collection of stars which dragged through the night like fine silk.

The moon was a few nights shy of being full. Sesshomaru arrived in the future on the night of a new moon, and he vaguely wondered how his half brother managed against Bashamon. Probably not well, but nothing was mentioned in reference to that in the scroll he had read twelve days ago.

He couldn't see the home from this vantage point, but could hear the door open and close. He listened to bare feet pad closer, and the miko rounded the nearby corner shortly after coming out. She was in a matching top and bottom, yellow with odd brown, round eared doll faces printed all over them, and a blanked over her shoulders.

She stood there, and they decided to stare at each other for a minute.

"Hey," she greeted, her voice a tad shaky. Certainly she wasn't cold… She came and sat a few feet from him on the wall, and he waited to see what she wanted.

The wind gusted slightly, still warm from the day, but she tugged her blanket more tightly, fingers worrying its hem.

"I just wanted to say thanks while I wasn't crying," she finally spoke. "That was very stupid of me. So, thanks for being there."

There was a bit more silence, and her worrying was focused to her lower lip.

She began again with a soft giggle. "You know, I couldn't sleep with that playing in my head… It reminds me of what happened to Sango, and I don't think I would be able to deal with that. Not when it would be my fault… Um, Kohaku travels with you now, right?"

… The miko was trying to have a casual conversation with him? "Yes, he does."

She smiled at him, features highlighted with the moon at her back. She was turned to face him though, so the light cupped her face like a cool hand. "I thought so. Sango was a little shocked by that, but we were guessing that he needed some more time to recover. So, thanks for watching him for her."

"He wishes to stay with Rin, not under my care," Sesshomaru commented.

The miko looked humored and, oddly, warmed by this. "Really? I haven't interacted too much with Rin, but she seems like a very sweet girl."

"Hn," he breathed, amused.

"What?" the miko inquired, tucking her bare feet up to hang her toes over the edge of the wall, arms wrapping around her legs.

"Rin is kind spirited, but too energetic. Jaken has trouble keeping up with her."

The miko laughed heartily. "Yep, kids are like that! Does she play with Kohaku a lot now?"

"He watches her from afar," he replied. It was different to be having such a carefree conversation with the miko, but not disagreeable.

"Aw, how cute!" she beamed, lighting up the night for a moment. "My brother went through that a while ago, and Inuyasha and I had to push him into asking her to be his girlfriend, it was adorable. … I wonder if Rin will go with Kohaku when he goes back to Sango. Think she'd handle a demon slayer environment?"

Sesshomaru rolled his shoulders slightly in response.

The miko shifted slightly. "Do you miss them?"

…

…

Did he miss them? His conscious immediately said 'no, this Sesshomaru misses no one,' but really… "I would be lying if I said I did not." This conversation was a bit too personal, but that didn't really bother him yet.

"Well, we'll get you back to them soon enough," she affirmed, staring wistfully at the sky. "I have a feeling that the well will open sooner than we expect."

Sesshomaru didn't know where she based this feeling off of, but he nodded with approval. The future was interesting, but it wasn't for him. Not yet anyway. Everything was far too different and sudden for him to feel comfortable with.

"Why don't we go out and do something fun tomorrow?"

His mind was rudely wrenched from this thoughts and he blinked at the miko.

"It'll be my way of saying thanks, since just saying it doesn't seem like enough. Plus, tomorrow's the first day that- Or, I'll make it a surprise!" She stood and clapped her hands with a smile. "Yes! That'll be my show of thanks! And don't worry, the trio of hormones won't be there to bug you, they've all got plans!"

There really was nothing to say to that, other than asking what the surprise was. She turned away and waved over her shoulder at him with a bidding of 'good night,' and hightailed it for her home.

A surprise.

From a miko…

Eh… Couldn't be too interesting. After all, he'd seen far too many things already to be surprised by whatever she had in mind. He'd let her give her manner of thanks as a secret, that was fine. Yes, perfectly fine, because Sesshomaru didn't mind surprises and was not curious in the least.

…

"What are you planning, miko?"

"Sheesh! Stop asking already!" she bickered, making some morning tea while still wearing her silly sleeping outfit. "I promise, if you ask me that one more time I am NOT talking to you until we get there, and if you keep asking after that then we're not even going."

She was handling him like a toddler… And with how well she was doing so he was beginning to think he was acting like one.

She yawned and had a seat at the tall table, stirring a little sack of herbs into her hot water. "I can't believe you woke me up, you jerk."

Some conversation starter…

"I enjoy challenges," he replied.

She almost snorted her drink up her nose and laughed. "Yeah, well, the average human needs about eight hours of sleep a night anyway, and I was up late talking with you! I probably didn't fall asleep until two, and there you are knocking at my door when the sun rose."

Which brought up a topic of interest for him. "What do you mean by this surprise being 'not open yet'?"

"M," she hummed, setting her cup down to warm her palms against. "Places that are open, or being run and managed by people who work there, during the _day_ are not usually open at _night_. In other words, no one's around to run the places you'd want to go to at certain hours, so they can't help you in buying anything. Everything's locked up tight and the employees go home to rest."

"They do not possess servants?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Well, yeah, sorta," the miko grumbled. "Some places seem to partake in slave ownership, but that's beside the point. There are no slaves or servants in most countries in the future. Everyone needs money to survive, so everyone is paid fairy. Also, human rights are in effect. Thanks to those, there's a minimum wage, and people go to work in the places that can pay them the most for their level of skill. Does that make sense?"

"Human rights??" he asked, his reality doing a sudden one-eighty.

"Yep," she affirmed. "It wasn't always like that. Japan was one of the latter states to initiate complete rights. Even women didn't get civil rights until after world war two."

"_World_ war?" That sounded incredibly interesting. He had studied and participated in many wars, but a war to encompass the entire world? It sounded fabulous.

"Oh, that," she began. "Oye, yes, examples of immense human stupidity. I'll get some library books for you to read if you'd like, you might find it entertaining." She gave him a look then. "What language do you read anyway? Japanese, Chinese or even Korean?"

Um… Did she want him to list them off?

"Jindai moji, Hangul, kanbun, kojiki, man'yōgana, hiragana, katakana, kanji-"

"Please stop talking!" the miko pleaded. "Oh, my poor, poor head…"

"Why did you ask?" he inquired.

"To be nice!" she whimpered. "Then you go ahead and spew all those out like it's an every day thing…"

He smirked. "That was not even half."

"Well," she sighed, "I don't envy you and your studies. I'd hate to learn all that. The last three though are what you need to know, so that's good. The rest are dead languages."

"Dead?"

"Yeah. A side effect of a unified land and wars. Now the dominating language is English, which I'm pretty good at now."

"English!?" Those oddly faced people from across the seas and lands?? What the… Sesshomaru _must_ have died before the wars began, like hell he'd let that happen.

"Well, American English," the miko stated.

"American?" A sudden ringing pierced the air and Sesshomaru looked up at the timer the miko had set for him to look at.

"M, yeah. Don't worry, you'll learn all about them if you're a fast reader." She turned the annoying thing off. "Ready to leave?"

Sesshomaru was hard pressed to not listen, but after quite a bit of arguing and debating he left behind his armor, pelt and swords. The miko, satisfied, was called away by her mom who said something was ready, and asked that he wait a minute. It took a while, but she finally came back out wearing the darnest thing.

"Well?" she asked, displaying a darl blue summer kimono with a proper obi and matching string bag, clacking over in sandals. Vivid red and white koi fish decorated the hem and sleeves, and when she turned in demonstration as she approached he saw some on her back as well. He never imagined that she would sacrifice her usual attire for something he was use to seeing, though the style was admittedly different. "My mom needed to find the sash, so that's what the delay was over. Other than that, now people won't be staring at you so oddly!"

He opened his mouth to reply, and with a flush she talked over him.

"And I don't' care if you don't care about what they think about you, because I do!"

That was a tongue twister, and when he made sense of it he smirked, which made her a little annoyed. "You look nice."

She lost control of her face and gapped at him, then gave a horrible flush.

"Um, yeah, thanks," she muttered, playing with the thin, lighter blue yukata sleeve hiding inside the kimono's. "Alright, let's not waste the daylight and get going!"

The day was off to a great start, for Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, got to ride in a shiny. It was such a smooth ride! And by kami, what was in these seats?

"I figured you wouldn't want to be stuck on the side walks with people colliding into you," the miko stated, sitting nearby in the last row of seating, wearing the 'seat belt'. "This is a public form of transportation, and you pay depending on how far you go. It's called a taxi."

Sesshomaru pressed a little button in the funny shaped door, and there was a sudden whirling noise. The sounds from outside suddenly leaked noisily in, and he learned that the button lowered the glass. He had the miko show him how to reverse what he did so as to avoid the smells and the heat. Speaking of heat, AC was a splendid thing.

The ride took them quite a ways. From the tall buildings and most of the crowds. Sesshomaru had never seen so many people in his life.

"Will you be needing a ride back?" the man asked when they stopped, regarding Sesshomaru through a mirror.

Sesshomaru looked to the miko.

"We'll bother someone else, thanks," she said while digging through her small bag. "What's the damage?"

Damage?

"Two hundred yen," he stated.

With a wince, she handed over the sum, then instructed Sesshomaru on how to open the door, and they exited the taxi.

"We're here!"

There was a vast expanse of road with stilled shinnies filling it, but the event seemed to be behind him.

…

Dear kami, what in the name of sanity was that?

"I'll bet you've never been to a fair before!" the miko giggled. "Come on, let's go get our tickets!"

Were there lines and tickets associated to everything that was fun? The miko had to threaten erecting a barrier around him after the first ten minutes of line waiting, and after another five they were promptly assisted and filtered through an odd gate.

"No, Sesshomaru, you let it turn as you walk through it, like I did," she instructed on the other side, wearing a bright orange band around her wrist, another one in her other hand. So, his thighs had to push that odd tri-bared wheel, and then his rump would be pushed ahead?

The miko sighed, smirking for some reason, and grasping the bar she tugged it forward and made it click. "Want to jump over now?"

When they got into the walled area the miko insisted on putting the spare orange band on his wrist, and when he couldn't figure it out he allowed her to secure it for him.

"You see, this is why they do it for you at the window," she was muttering, securing the little band as he stared at everything that was happening around him. It was all so… _colorful_. "Here, can you cut the excess off so it doesn't tug at your sleeve?"

It was snipped, and they were off.

"Anything look good?" she asked him once they reached the middle of the place. Or, the thought it was the middle. He couldn't tell, there were too many scents here to mark where he'd already been and everything was far too noisy. He told her this, and she nodded. "Okay, I know what will make you feel a little better."

"Tickets please!" came several voices at various large mechanics. Thanks to the bands though, they were able to bypass all of the impossibly long lines and instead had to wait in short ones.

"They may cost a few months of allowance, but they're sure handy!" the miko commented, holding out her wrist to a man in a uniform vest and hopping through. Sesshomaru showed his and followed, watching as she clambered into a steel cage."

"It rocks?" he asked, grabbing the wall when he sat down.

"Yeah. They tend to scare me," she admitted. "I don't know why, but the Ferris Wheel is usually the one I hate the most."

"That is what this is called?" he asked, grabbing the other side of their cage when the door was secured and manipulating his body weight.

"YOU JERK!!" she shrieked when they suddenly rocked, laughing nonetheless.

"Does this make a full circle?" he wanted to know, enhancing the swing. This was pretty fun.

"Yes, but we'll be kicked off and I chose this ride for your sake, you ass!" she giggled, clinging to her place. "If you want to spin then there are plenty of other rides to do that on, so please stop!"

He let the cage settle, but before it came to a full stop they were being lifted.

What a view.

"Alright, I just thought you'd like to see everything that's here before we started," she stated, him shifting in his seat to look around. He saw quite a bit, but he wouldn't be able to get a proper view until they reached the top, so he stilled. She seemed relieved when he kept his seat, and placed her hands in her lap.

There was silence, which he didn't mind because that gave him time to think about all of this.

"They sell corn dogs here," she commented, glancing at him with her sapphire blue eyes. "We can get some after this if you want."

He nodded.

She fidgeted.

The ride moved.

"So, are there any rides that seem interesting?"

She didn't like silence. At least, not while she was alone with him.

"We'll see," he replied, glancing out the wired over wall. They reached the top of the wheel's circle, and he explored. She took several deep breaths whenever he changed location, making the cart swing ever so gently. "It is all interesting," he finally replied, looking down at her. She looked ready to be sick.

He was so glad Tenseiga wasn't nearby for this.

"What are you doing?" she asked when he braced the sides of his feet to the odd chairs where they welded to the floor. "Oh kami," she breathed, looking ready to cry as he gripped the steel sides, his back now facing the door and the miko searching for a good hold in front of him. "Please, don-"

He yanked the cage right when the ride began its decent, and even though it moved only slightly she let out a scream. He built up its momentum, aiming for a full circle loop like so many people had tried to do while they were below and waiting in line.

"Sesshomaru!! Please stop!!" she screamed, cowering in on herself when the suspended cage turned even more sharply. He was enjoying himself, not scared in the least, and watched as her eyes went wide when her back was placed lower than her legs, her still sitting in the chair. "SESSHOMARU!!"

He yanked it to the other side, and she lost her seat and clung to the meshed steal openings to avoid falling into the opposite bench.

"This isn't funny!" she cried, sinking back into her seat when the cage swung like a pendulum in the other direction.

"This is hilarious!" he informed her, actually laughing. She screamed again when her feet fell and she stood on the seat that was once opposite her, Sesshomaru's hair getting into his face. He hadn't had this much fun since he was a child.

He braced for the next swing, aiming for a three quarters turn this time around, but faltered. The miko defied gravity and lunged at him, grabbing as tightly as she could around his back and onto his shoulders from behind. He released one hand to pry her warm body off, and the cage swung.

He hadn't calculated the momentum the steel compartment would have in weight, and compensating for the motion his feet shifted automatically, and with a world-spinning sensation his secured hand was wrenched loose and he sat heavily on one of the benches.

The miko gripped him harder when he fell and buried her scream into his chest, knocking some air out of his lungs when he landed with her colliding on top of him.

The cage spun, and his move to try and remove her had him not only sitting up but tipping over too, her clutching weight pulling him over her.

This was-

The cage spun again, a little more lightly, but still enhancing his movement too much, and he found himself laying on the bottom of the cage with the miko clinging desperately to him.

Slamming his feet and arms against the walls under the seats he oriented himself. He was sprawled and very untidy, and the miko was being herself.

"Kami, this isn't happening!" he heard her whimper, their cage swinging them like a hammock now. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening."

Sesshomaru was about to scold her, and the ride lurched to a stop.

She screamed in a very squeaky manner and completely overlooked Sesshomaru's comfort for her security, her arms completely wrapped around his torso and legs curving to his own as though he were her current brace in reality. This wasn't the best of things, because that meant she was squirming between his lifted knees while holding him like... _that_.

"Miko," he stated, voice wavering ever so slightly. She didn't respond at all, and he felt that she was shaking with fear. "Miko!" She didn't reply, or move, until the ride began again and she dug her nails into the back of his yukata, little fists knotting under his shoulder blades. "Kagome!"

Her head shot up immediately, the ghost of fear on her blanched face and shock widening her watering eyes. She saw his stern expression, and instead of registering her position and moving, her lips widened in a sobbing manner and her lower lids bunched to brace against tears.

"YOU BASTARD!!" she bellowed, fists thumping his chest harmlessly. "Why'd you do that!? You had me scared to death!!"

He gave up his brace and deftly grabbed her wrists, shifting slightly from the still rocking cage, and she cringed at the motion and didn't fight his restraining her.

"I don't want to die," she breathed, so scared that her voice was level. Her eyes clamped shut as two tears fell onto his clothing. "God, these rides aren't always secure. I don't want to die."

He felt his expression soften slightly. He hadn't thought of that. She was worried that their ride would go flying off its hinges and send them careening to the ground. He'd survive it, hands down, but she probably wouldn't at that height. He imagined how Rin would react, and was pretty sure that it would be worse than the miko's actions. It was a human instinct to save one's self in the best way possible, so he was only minutely begrudging of the whole situation he got themselves into. They could have landed in a better position, for starters.

Tired of sliding from side to side, Sesshomaru let the miko go and resumed holding himself in place, and the less the ride shook the quicker she recovered. When it slowed to the lull of ocean waves, she removed her fingers from the sides of his shoulder blades and braced her hands on the floor at his sides, lifting herself up.

Blinking a few times, the discomfort was worth her look of mortification.

"Oh!" she cried, jumping to her feet and slumping onto a bench. "Oh kami, you're going to kill me now, aren't you?"

He sat up, and lifted himself onto the opposite seat, and began brushing off. Ew. "When you get boring, probably."

She was silent, kimono covered hands over her mouth, and after a short while she was giggling.

He threw her a questioning look, shanking his head slightly so his hair straightened out and organizing his layered clothing, which was a hassle.

"I..." she began, shoulders shaking. "I can't believe I just did that! Oh kami, are you sure you're not going to feed my my own legs?"

Feed her her what? "Keep giving me ideas, and I will be hard pressed not to consider them, miko."

Her mirth disappeared, and a considering look crossed her face. "You said my name."

He paused.

"You never said my name before," she commented. "I guess if I want you to call me Kagome, I have to woman-handle you more, ne?"

He smirked. Some conclusion. "Add to that simple thought process the fact that next time you try as much this Sesshomaru will not be so merciful."

She nodded, sucking on her lower lip, and looked with surprised over at the men opening the door of the ride. She almost tripped over her kimono as she scrambled out, snatching her bag off the floor at the last moment, and Sesshomaru followed.

"So, now I have to say sorry for two things," she pondered aloud, pausing in eating her corn dog. "That's going to be hard."

There really was no dignified way to eat corn dogs, was there? The miko had ordered a soda for him as well as food, and he was hard pressed to swallow the fizzy, sugary overload. She got him a water instead, and shortly after eating what she called an unhealthy breakfast she decided to show him what the buildings were.

The House of Mirrors was one of _the_ most confusing places Sesshomaru had ever been in, because it was a maze of images of himself in a very dark room. He quickly concluded that he hated dead ends, and the miko came and found him more than once. At the end, there was an obvious door, and to get to it one had to walk past wall mounted mirrors.

The miko laughed, and he looked over. The mirror was revealing how she'd look with a small body and an overly huge head, eyes now the size of her brain and blinking.

"I look like a chihuahua!"

She looked even scarier than when she does after waking every day...

"Ready for a really fun ride?!" she asked excitedly once they had stepped outside.

Of course he was.

She walked briskly for the giant gleaming structure Sesshomaru had eyed in particular from the Ferris Wheel. It looked like a large and thick spider web, cut in various places, and people in connected roofless shinnies rode its top while screaming.

"Roller Coaster, here we come!" the miko cheered, running the rest of the way for the line that just came in sight.

* * *

**A/N:** More carnival goodness to come in the next chapter! Please review to let me know what you think! I am also open to suggestions of what rides they try out if you'd like to make a list of your favorites! :D


	13. Discomfort

**A/N:** Has it really been thirteen chapters? It feels more like five...

Read and enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Discomfort**

"Darling, it looks _terrifying_. Do we have to??"

This was coming from the oddly blond haired woman standing in front of them as she clutched her mate's arm and stared at the loading cars.

"It'll be fine, I'm here," he soothed. They got on and the line flow ended, bringing Sesshomaru and the miko to the front.

"Good! We get prime seating!" she giggled, hopping from toe to toe with excitement. Sesshomaru was confused. Spinning a slow-motion ride scared her beyond reasoning, but shooting across a track and doing circles in the air and what not was her delight? If anything, it should have been the opposite, right?

The blond woman gave a cry when their long car lurched to a start, her odd looking nails digging into the padded brace over her chest.

"I hope it comes soon!" the miko giggled, rubbing her hands together and squirming in place. "Oh, I'm already regretting that corn dog. Oh well, this'll be worth it! I haven't been on a roller coaster in _years_!"

Sesshomaru smirked at her antics. She was acting like Rin would with flowers. It was oddly heart warming. He supposed he really did miss the child and her brilliant methods of torturing Jaken.

"Do I really have to wear this?" he asked as the miko drew the chest brace down on herself. These seats were far from comfortable, and very small. But, they were sitting in the very front, so that proved to be promising.

"It's worth it," she said. "Here, gather your hair behind your back so you're against it, and I'll pull it down."

Tight. It was tight, and uncomfortable, and it hugged him into the seat. The right sided braces were jostled by a servant, the miko's first, and once all of them proved their security the ride was started.

"EEEEE!!" the miko cried with excitement, her hands becoming little fists as they shook in front of her, her drawstring purse tied securely around her wrist and then some. There was fear laced through her scent, but it was mild and mingled with mirth, so it was a welcomed fear. This aught to be good.

They left the station, and the first little hill was a twenty-five foot drop. The nose crept at first, anticipating and nervous laughs coming from behind, and as more of this metal snake hung downhill the weight of the rest shoved it onward, causing great excitement for the rest of the passengers.

It was surprisingly stomach lurching to drop at the whim of the machine, and reaching the bottom the momentum carried the underside of the cart up and onto a hooked chain which pulled them along, clicking annoyingly.

"You alright!?" the miko yelled over the noise, simply beaming.

He nodded, breathing steadily through his nose for a few seconds. That wasn't so bad. Sort of fun, actually.

An evil look shadowed her delicate face. "If this makes you sick, I'm going to laugh hysterically about it for weeks!! You DO know that, right!?"

He answered her with a glare past the fairly hard padding, the ride still ascending. "I can't possibly be worse on this than you on a Ferris Wheel."

"What?!" she called over the racket.

He repeated himself with a yell, and she smacked his knee. They reached the top.

"Stick your hands up!!"

"What?!" he asked, looking around. Dear kami, they were _higher_ than the Ferris Wheel! This miko was crazy!

"Lift them up!" she cried, doing so so her bag clicked against her elbow. "And close your eyes!"

"Why?!" he demanded.

"Just do it!! I promise I won't look at you!!"

She had a thrilled look on her face, breath hitching as the nose began to point down. She smiled brilliantly, eyes squeezed shut and hands completely open overhead like they were trying to catch sunlight. Feeling like a fool, he did the same. He was learning over these last couple of weeks, that in the future, being a fool was the greatest source of entertainment.

The weight of the back added itself and they quickly shot downhill.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" the miko cried. She finished her cry, breathed in, and began screaming before they hit the end of the slope.

Oh, kami, this didn't feel right! Sure, he was use to flying, but he was always in control of it, and-

A sudden lurch for the left made him shoot his eyes open and he grasped the brace over this chest, their long carriage quickly consuming the track beneath. They made half a circle at an unnatural pace and while Sesshomaru looked ahead, the miko giggled a cry.

"CORKSCREW!!"

... Corkscrew? What was th-

"YEEEEEEEEE-HEHE-HEHE-HEHEEEEEEEEE!!" she hollered as they entered a horizontal spiral.

The world rudely spun counterclockwise. Once, twice, thrice, and dropped. Sesshomaru felt like his stomach and heart were going to leap out in a fit of joy. Then there was the miko, with her eyes closed and fists up again, enjoying the displeasing feeling.

Everything went vertical, then more so, and the Roller Coaster entered a huge loop. Looking over, Sesshomaru noticed how the miko's bag hung hazardously for the ground while they were completely upside down, but didn't fall.

Sesshomaru, despite his immense discomfort, was grateful that he at least didn't have his hair in his face...

"Wanna go again?!" the miko cried excitedly, hopping out of the cart as gracefully as the kimono would allow, wobbling in her sandals on momentarily unstable legs. Sesshomaru gave her a flat look as she untied her purse from her wrist, hoisting himself out. He'd feel better in a minute, right? "... Sesshomaru, are you okay? You look pale. ... Well, paler than usual."

"This Sesshomaru is perfectly fine," he told her, his stomach feeling far too warm and his limbs and face cold. That wasn't a normal sensation.

She snorted while trying to hold back a laugh. "Uh-oh! The third person reference! Either I'm in trouble or your lying like a do- ... Well, or you're just lying."

"Care to take a guess?" he asked, standing a head taller than her.

"This Kagome would prefer it to be kept a mystery," she replied mockingly as they walked out of the place with the crowd. The sudden regal tone of her voice had him giving her a second look. It disappeared when she continued talking. "That way if you kill me you're killing an ignorant person, which someone of your nobility would be hard pressed to commit, ne?"

"It is quite a bit easier than you seem to believe, miko," he replied. As they exited, the blond from before was sobbing hysterically on the bench near the exit, saying she'd never forgive her mate for dragging her onto that ride and what not.

Kagome scoffed in her direction, then pointed a disapproving stare at Sesshomaru. "It's Kagome," she stated. "And I was referring to your sense of pride anyway. Oye, I _really_ shouldn't have eaten that corn dog..."

Corn dog...

"... Now you just look green," she commented.

"What is next?" he inquired, changing the subject.

Plenty was next. Sesshomaru eventually got use to being yanked around by the machines, and was really enjoying himself. The last ride had both himself and the miko sick though, because they had sat in an oddly egg-shaped ride with a wheel in the middle of it. The miko was clinging for dear life when he took hold of it and sent them spinning in two circles at once.

"I think I feel good enough to go do something else now," the miko stated ten minutes after the last ride, swishing the last inch of water remaining in what she called the plastic bottle. Sesshomaru had already finished his. The cold liquid was a welcomed presence, as it settled his nerves.

"Miko," Sesshomaru addressed her, wanting a question answered. "How is it you fear one ride and yet embrace the other?"

She looked at him from beyond the bottom of the water bottle, and lowered it without her taking the intended drink. "You scared me, that's why," she replied honestly, taking that swig.

This was rather shocking. If he had to rate the rides, the hell on wheels was definitely the highest in unfavorable. But, furthermore, what?? "_I_ scared you?"

"Of course you did," she muttered around the circle of plastic, tilting it up to empty the container. She looked a tad unnerved by this conversation.

"It was obviously designed to rock," he stated bluntly, oddly offended.

"Not like that it wasn't!" she barked at him.

"So the fault lies with me?" he asked.

"Well, duh!" she stated, angrily chucking her plastic container at the closest garbage can. It hit someone instead, and she really didn't seem to care about that.

"You do not trust me?"

"N-... No, not really," was her reply, locking a few fingers into her hair. "You break everything anyway..."

Ouch... That sort of hurt. The first part of the sentence. He accepted the fact that he broke plenty of things.

She was shifting in her seat now.

"Why?" he asked. His voice perplexed even himself, so he ignored her stare as he cleared his throat. He felt he should be mad, but his question was very deadpanned to say the least, and something felt off balance. Not being able to pinpoint exactly what was out of balance had him wanting to feel annoyed, but he didn't.

"Sesshomaru," she addressed him, sounding tired with the sigh. "Come on. You've tried to kill me. _Several_ times. And you've tried to kill my friends. Even your own kin." She looked at him with a hopeless smile. "I'll admit, I don't see you in the same light I did when I first saw you. Rin helped me with that, along with some of your random acts of kindness. But for the longest of times, you were my enemy. You were trained to be an aristocratic assassin, and I and everyone else knew it."

He was yelling. Well, in his head. His damned body refused to follow suit. He felt a bit numb, which made him feel heavy, which was very unneeded. Was this a spell? He didn't sense any spiritual energy, but such wasn't always needed.

She remained both oblivious and talkative.

"I'll admit, I don't hate you or anything, and it's not like I'm holding a grudge, it's just that- Well- You scare me. You really, truly scare me, and you use to enjoy doing it intentionally too!" At this she jabbed an accusatory finger at him. "I'm not forgetting any time soon how you've used your energy to frighten me, and your damned smirk to set me off! You knew what you were doing, so I have full right to not fully trust you!" She calmed a little, thinking. "... I mean, you're like an alien. I can't touch you without risking my life, and you're so standoffish that even if I dared I'd be forfeiting a limb! I can't have a conversation with you, I don't understand you, your mean and despise me and you downgrade me every chance you get! You don't use my name even, it's like you don't see me as a real and sensitive thing!"

She was crying, and very frustrated, and took a calming breath. The calm didn't last long though.

"I'm a living being, Sesshomaru. I'm not an item, or a servant, or someone you can just backhand and call it good! If you want an object, then keep treating me like you do until the day you leave! But objects don't trust, and they don't care, and they damn well _don't_ have feelings! I don't care that you are suppose to get immediate respect, because I am not from your time Sesshomaru. I'm not under your law."

There was a long silence, during which the miko caught the hiccups from being so nervous.

"I see," he stated, still in that tone which was never designed to come from him. He wanted to kick himself for not being able to come up with something else to say, but how could he? She was actually stating the truth, whether he liked it or not, and he had known these things for a very long time. Hearing them, however, was something entirely different.

"I'm sorry."

He looked up when she spoke, and she was already walking away, wiping at her eyes and with her back to him.

...

...

...

Sesshomaru had entirely too much time to think while she was gone. He found himself reminiscing the times he had seen her, remembering very clearly how shocked he was when she first proved her potential for being a nuisance and emerged from the mound of melted skulls with Tetsusaiga in hand, then threatened to cut him down with it like nothing had happened. How she fired her arrow at Tetsusaiga a few weeks after that and canceled its transformation, which was not only surprising but displeasing as well. To have her fire yet another right after and destroy his shoulder armor granted her a death sentence, had he succeeded in giving it. Several other incidents flickered through his mind, and not only were her feelings fully justified, but he suddenly realized that she was one of the rare opponents he couldn't defeat. That, in and of itself, was respectable, and opened the doors to new fields of training. He could stand to be more active.

It was decided. She was a powerful miko, a worthy opponent, and a pain in the neck. She also happened to be his hostess who didn't try and shoo him away from her home and tolerated all the things she just listed off, despite calling him her enemy. Not only that, but she tried to keep him amused.

Despite her demand that he not kill anything, she was proving to be pretty... Well, considerate, and kind. Sure, she was a miko, _his_ natural enemy, but there she was, walking back and dressed up so he wouldn't be stared at and standing four feet away and giving him an uncertain look-

Oh. She was back.

She looked very... Stubborn. She was going to become annoying, wasn't she?

"Well, get off your ass so I can finish giving my apology to you!" she huffed. "We haven't ridden everything yet, and it's already getting dark out, so I want to get my money's worth while I can."

"Money's worth?" he inquired nonchalantly.

She held up her tagged wrist. "Yeah. These. Each one is like one thousand yen. To earn that, it'd be like serving food to the entire city for a week straight!"

He smirked at her. She prepared for an assault. Then, realizing that he was just smirking, she stomped her foot.

"YOU are SUCH a BULLY!!" she yelled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him out of his seat. "You get what you reap, Sesshomaru! Stab me in the back and I'll kill you, got that?!"

She proceeded to march onward, leading him along. Being led was not his preferred position, so he came up to her side and she nervously yanked her hand back, angling away from him. She kept him at arm's length.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

He shrugged. "Where to?"

She pouted slightly, but not the sad sort. "What's up with the 180?"

"The what?"

"..." She was studying him. "Never mind. We're going there."

He followed her pointing finger to what looked to be a spasmodically lit spinning ride of doom. It had twelve passenger cars which turned, and they were attached oddly to the edge of the rim, which turned, then what the rim was attached to was making a fairly big and irregular circle while lifting up and down. It was called the Zipper.

His stomach hurt already...

"Are you sure you do not prefer the Ferris Wheel?" he inquired, needing to wear one of those annoying braces over his lap.

"I'm more secure in this one," she replied, taking hold of the bar in front of herself when it was lowered with the caged portion. "At least here I won't tumble like a sock in the dryer. It's designed to spin, so have at it."

She helped him spin the small two person chair, and their record was five hundred and seventy two in a row. The ride assistant was fascinated. Sesshomaru hadn't laughed so hard in his life as far as his memory could serve him, and they still giggled like a couple of fools even after the ride, both feeling sick and stumbling a little.

Yes. He liked the future. Waiting for these things to be invented would be hard on him.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" she asked him again, watching as his arm and head stuck out of the taxi on their way back. The night air was good and cool and pulled his bangs from his warm face. It helped his still giddy stomach. He didn't bother with replying, and for the rest of the time she had gotten a call then pursued a conversation with the driver. It was about half hour ride.

They didn't stop at the shrine...

"Thank you!" the said, paying the man while Sesshomaru pondered the very brightly lit building they were brought to. It only looked bright because of how dark it was outside now. She walked past him. "Come on, my mom wants me to get something."

There was something which caught his eye behind the glass doors, and it wouldn't leave him alone.

"Beer?" he asked, reading the intriguing cans. "Beer, beer, beer, what is this?"

The cashier threw him a funny look.

"It's twenty times worse than sake," the miko stated, grabbing a white gallon. "Than really _bad_ sake... Say, what's your favorite color?"

"What?" he asked. That was random.

"You heard me," she scolded as he walked over. She was staring at multi-colored drink containers. "Oh! Have you ever had a grape?"

"No." Yep. It was safe to say he had never even heard of this mystery grape she was talking about.

"Alright, you should try this then." She snatched a purple can from the fridge. "... Come to think of it, have you ever had a banana?"

"No."

"Orange?"

"No."

"Apple."

"No."

"_Pine_apple?"

"What are these and how are they suppose to be had?" he finally asked.

She got a hand basket, and quickly filled it with one of each can. "There. I've got demon rations. Do you like ramen?"

"Ramen?"

"Oh kami..."

The basket became more full, and she hefted it onto the counter.

"Will that be all for you?" asked a very bored young man.

"And this," she said, grabbing a small color packet.

And with that, she grabbed all four plastic bags and they left.

"Oh, I forgot!" the miko whined, staring at the dark streets outside the shop. "Oh... Damn..."

They were walking for a little while, and the miko's need for an arm's length of personal space had suddenly dwindled to about a finger's.

"Are you frightened?" he asked, glancing around.

"I hate being alone at night," she stated, head whipping back to see if anyone was following them. "And stop laughing at me, I have my reasons."

"Except for your best reason," he replied, tugging the plastic bags filled with cans and the white gallon from her frail grasp. She gapped at him. "You are not my servant, remember? I will carry half."

"W-" she stammered, looking away with a flush. She opened that small color packet as though to kill time, and popped a small white stick into her mouth. The scent of mint began to waft on her breath. "What's my best reason?"

"You said you hated being alone at night."

"... And?" she asked, looking up at him. He saw her flinch violently from his peripheral when he smirked.

"So stop being afraid. My senses are superior to yours, and I do not tolerate being attacked by anyone."

"Oh," she murmured, now three finger's length away. "Um... Thanks."

He nodded, and they made it to the shrine shortly after. It was not a long walk, but she seemed to calm down a bit with his assurance. They were greeted by the family, everyone seated to watch the news on the TV.

"Why does the night scare you?" he asked, setting the bags onto the counter with several clanks like she told him to.

"Just, a lot of things," she stated. "Nothing you wouldn't find in your time."

"Care to name some?" he suggested. He was not subject to the fears of a frail mortal woman, so the concept of being afraid was a little otherworldly.

"Um, well, there's theft, rape, kid napping, murder," she was using her fingers to count them off. "Those are the major ones. Other than those, I just don't want to run into any crazies..."

He threw her a questioning look at that one.

"Um, people like Inuyasha when he gets full demon blood, just human. They'd stab you with a knife thinking you're a ghost, then run screaming on their hands. Or, just, something crazy... They're pretty unpredictable."

That was an annoying thought. She came over and dragged the bags he had carried closer to the fridge across the counter, quickly emptying them onto a cool shelf.

"You can have any of these whenever you want, alright?" she reassured, closing the door and opening a high cabinet door. "Same with the ramen. I'll show you how to make it whenever you like. They're pretty good. Really, you're welcome to anything, but I bought this stuff for you so now you have an obligation..."

"Thank you."

She dropped one of the containers and scrambled to pick it up off the counter top, glancing wide eyed at him as though he just ate a living thing.

"UM! Yeah! Sure thing! Haha! I just hate to see you never eating, so, um, yeah!" She finished putting them away quickly, closing the door a tad too quickly and making it smash loudly shut. "So, how come you never eat?"

"There is no need to," he replied.

"Why's that?" she asked, taking a seat at the table like it was story time.

"Food is required for energy, of which I have ample," he told her.

"So, you basically eat energy?" she asked, sounding skeptical.

"Not necessarily. I am able to live comfortably for a month with no food, so long as I can maintain a balance."

"A month..." she asked flatly.

He nodded.

She put her head on the table and grumbled about a miracle diet for the perfect body, which reminded him of something.

"Training will resume tomorrow morning."

She looked up, miserable. "Early again? Like, before the birds even wake up?"

"Certainly," he agreed.

"Fine," she signed, pushing away from the table and grinding the chair legs against the odd floor. "I'm off to bed then. Mama! Would you-"

"Just a second," the mother replied, apparently captivated by what the TV was saying.

The miko sighed, and turned to Sesshomaru. "Well, would _you_ mind undoing this obi for me? I don't want to knot it or something by undoing it myself."

She turned her back for him, pulling her hair over one shoulder. He had undone a few obis before, but this pattern of tuck and fold was intriguing. It only took a few seconds though. The outer kimono folded open when she gave a sigh of relief, revealing plenty of her tied down yukata underneath.

"Oh, I can breathe again... That's better. Thanks," she smiled, gathering the now unraveled eight feet of heavy fabric over her arm. "Night everyone!"

She left and went up the stairs. A couple of seconds and some discarded fabric later, she came back down.

"I also never see you sleep," she stated, arms crossed as she wore only the yukata. "My mom put your stuff in the guest bedroom, if you want it back. And you can sleep on the bed if you'd like, we're not going to curse your family for it or anything."

She certainly had a way with words. She walked him to the room, and he'd be damned if he could stop himself for more than two seconds at a time from watching her hips and backside undulate with her steps.

He rubbed his eyes with his left hand. Spring was a curse...

"There's your stuff," she stated, gesturing to a wooden stand with drawers. "And there's the bed if you want to sleep. Or, do whatever you want or whatever it is you do at night. You probably only need to sleep every year anyway."

"Once a week," he supplied, walking to his swords and unsheathing each in turn, examining them.

"Lucky..."

He regarded her, and she jumped when she seemed to realize her own existence.

"Night!"

She scurried off, and was up the stairs and in her room in no time.

Sesshomaru set his swords down, Tenseiga humming to life to see where its master had been.

He ignored it, leaning over slightly to feel the bed. It was bouncy?

He put two hands on the mattress and pushed. It pushed back.

He resisted tearing it to shreds to see how it worked. Instead, he took a seat. Quite nicer than what he grew up with. Stretching his legs to the end he lay back and sprawled comfortably in the middle, fingers barely hanging off the opposite ends. It was large, and comfortable, and it had those sacks of feathers which the miko had thrown at him the first time he came in her room to wake her up before the sun.

Grabbing it, he tucked it under his head like she did and allowed himself to relax.

Sleep came surprisingly quickly.

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**A/N:** How was it?? :D Sorry this chapter took a while longer, life's been trying to throw itself under the bus of late.

I'm glad I've been able to keep an audience for this long! Reviews please!


	14. Discovery

**A/N:** Hello! I just wanted to state that there IS a **note** for all of you at the end of this chapter. :D And sorry to those whom I told I would update yesterday, this chapter proved to be a little more challenging...

So, yeah! That's about it! Read, enjoy, review!! :D

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Discovery**

Sesshomaru found himself utilizing four of the five basic senses to wake up that morning. The first was smell, which wasn't too easily registered while muddled in sleep. Hearing enforced what his nose told him, as there were mischievous noises nearby. Very nearby… His hearing worked impeccably well when a loud 'wake up' was yelled, and that rendered in the sight factor very quickly, giving him the immediate image of sapphire blue eyes in a smiling face quickly approaching. His nerves then fired into action and lurched him out of any delusion that he was still asleep, because the miko just jumped onto the bed and pushed him off it. The floor greeted him, as did nigh uncontrolled laughter.

"I am SO doing that again the next time you tell me you're going to get me up at four! I even set my alarm!"

He removed himself from the ground, and leaned an arm over the top of the springy bed, watching her absorb her amusement and rock side to side on her back. He was still tired, and his brain was still recycling the facts until they made sense.

...

... ...

... ... ...

He came to the conclusion that they indeed did not make sense.

"You just _shoved_ me out of _bed_…" he stated flatly, mildly annoyed with the immense mirth this woman was getting out of his embarrassment. He sort of deserved it if he let it happen, which is something his father would say for anything.

"Yep," she agreed, rolling onto her elbows. "You made me wake up at an ungodly hour, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. _I_, however, let _you_ sleep until sunrise."

It was that late?

"Besides," she began again, smirking at his sleep-roused hair and loosening haori. Being pushed onto the floor probably didn't make him look any more presentable either. "You're too heavy to be dragged out of bed by an ankle like you tried to do to me."

He smirked, shook his head at her antics, and stood. "You are just too weak," he retorted, yawning into his hand and planning on how to pay her back for what she called payback.

"Yeah, I know. You love that fact too, don't you?"

"It has its benefits," he agreed, running his claws through his hair until the strands loosened themselves to their normal appearance. The sun had risen... That was so much wasted ti-

"So!" she almost laughed, standing. "Now that you're awake, let's get to what you had in mind!"

She seemed a little too eager for the training, considering the history of her patience. Not that he was complaining. She might actually learn something this time, but that didn't mean he should not be a little suspicious. She _did_ lunge an attack at him, of sorts, and he was **asleep** for kami's sake!

As though being woken up in that manner wasn't enough proof of a lively spirited miko and a boisterous day, she was making great progress with her training.

"It doesn't look like a flame…" she muttered, examining the fingernail sized form of energy floating in her hands. It indeed did not. It was a crystal. "It looks like ice, but it's still warm," she pondered aloud. "Is that normal?"

"Not for demons," he admitted, easily subduing his own excited energy. Lashing out at either the miko or her power would be costly. "Perhaps for mikos."

The shining blue crystal shrank at that, but didn't blink out of existence. Excellent.

She leveled a look at him. "_Perhaps_? What do you mean 'perhaps' when you're suppose to be the one training me?!" she asked with a squeak of disbelief.

She had a good point. "Want a thesaurus again?"

Her eyes narrowed impatiently. He smirked.

"I was being serious," she grumbled.

"As was I."

She glared. He full out smiled. This woman was really entertaining when provoked properly.

Then came the sigh, and with comments of him being sadistic, annoying, a pain in the ass, and any other definition she could fantasize into existence at that hour of the morning she went back to focusing on her little crystal, making it grow again at a very slow rate. His demon energy wanted to yank it from her grasp and consume it. "So, am I doing it wrong?? I was hoping for blue fire after all."

His smirk came back. "Perhaps," he started, watching her face quirk at the word choice, "it is a reflection of yourself."

She became suspicious yet again. "Insult me and I'll jab this tiny crystal into your heart," she threatened, trying very hard to hide a grin.

"Good luck with that," he stated bluntly.

"Yeah, considering you don't have a heart," she joked.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Would I be alive without it?"

She actually considered it. "Well, taking into account Inuyasha's resilience when it comes to organ penetration, I suppose you could last three days without it… And grow it back."

That was very far from the truth...

"One of the reasons Tetsusaiga proves to be useful," Sesshomaru supplied, feeling a tad irritated at the turn of conversation. "He would have surely died without it on several occasions."

The immensely embarrassing time when Sesshomaru got caught by the Wind Scar and was hurtled off made his lips want to curl back with disgust. Even with Tenseiga shielding him, he took enough bodily damage to be rendered immobile for nearly two days, when he met Rin. Then Inuyasha, being the brash idiot he was always known to be, got the Wind Scar lashed back at him full on. He was able to walk around the next day, though stumbling and heavily bandaged, but still the facts were there. Tetsusaiga made the hanyou stronger than a full blooded demon, and Sesshomaru refused to fully claim his lands until that reality changed.

"Yeah," she agreed, her mouth twisting faintly at a thought and remaining completely oblivious to Sesshomaru's worsening mood. "You sort of literally stabbed him in the back once, right after he grabbed onto Tetsusaiga." She gave him a look, like she was placing him on an imaginary scale and watching the dial shift into balance. She didn't sound mad or displeased, just really analytical. She was judging him. "You really _are_ an assassin, aren't you. Your form in injuring him was well practice. Through the spine, dislocating six ribs and breaking four, and bursting through the sternum."

"So you noticed," he replied, the conversation quickly getting worse.

"Yeah. _I_ had to bandage him up…" she grumbled. "He healed without bones molding around his lungs… Which were fortunately not punctured."

Sesshomaru felt the corners of his mouth lift maliciously. "Then more practice is needed."

"Why do you hate him so much?" the miko asked.

Sesshomaru was taken slightly aback, wondering if he should just let his demon loose and be done with this. But the well still needed to be activated again by her. It needed spiritual energy which was properly channeled. "That is a matter not concerning you."

"Well, I know that," she replied. "I'm just wondering if you are able to talk about it."

Able to? Her word choice was aiming at his ego, which was a hard thing to target and hit. She prodded his patience instead. "No," was his straightforward reply, bodily shifting to disturb the air between them. He was not going to play these games with her, and he was not going to lose control of his anger. "You allowed the energy to fade away."

She sighed.

Another five hours passed, and the miko not only failed to make any progress, but she didn't seem capable of reaching the heights she had before.

"I'm giving up for now," she stated, flabbergasted. Her hands came wildly from above her head and slapped onto her knees. She leaned over her crossed legs to address him. "I'm going to go eat. Join me if you please."

And with that she stood. He did as well, welcoming the break. He swore that if she did not gain what he was teaching her, then he was definitely going to learn from her how to sleep with his eyes open. That, or how to level a city in a manner of venting.

"Lunch time! Lunch time! Thank kami, it's lunch time!" she sang to herself, prancing about the kitchen to gather the desired ingredients. "So! What sound g- Sesshomaru?"

He closed the door behind himself, and quickly reached the opposite side of the property to look into the well.

It stared back with dark promise. Completely still, yet swirling with both unlocked power and mystery.

He jumped in.

Nothing happened.

He sighed and leaned against the stone wall. Nothing had happened...

Nothing happened.

Nothing.

This was bordering on the line of cruelty. The more he thought about things, the more intangible they became. The more he ignored them, the more they grated at his nature. Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands and inugami daiyōkai, was stuck in a world to which he didn't belong. He didn't understand it, and it didn't understand him. It was like being trapped behind glass, watching things unfold which never concerned you, and wondering when you would suffocate.

Tenseiga hummed to life at his side, rattling lightly against his armor. He gripped the hilt to still it, feeling a tad reassured.

"Shall we go out?"

The miko dropped her chopsticks. "What?"

He frowned at her. Did going out mean something else or was she just suddenly struck deaf? "You heard me. Let us go into the city."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, blushing for some reason. "Ah, sure! OH!! That reminds me!!" She whipped around to see the clock, sighing with relief. "Alright! We can hang out until the movie, which gives us three hours."

"Movie?" he asked, recalling the miko's three friends.

"Yeah, we're going to a movie!" she smiled. His spirits lifted slightly, even though the movies didn't excite him. "I'm sure you'll love it. Oh!" Did she have to exclaim over the entrance of every idea to penetrate into her head? "I've been meaning to take you to the library anyway!"

Disarming himself, they left.

Whoever owned the library must have been the richest person in the city...

"It's awesome, isn't it?" she asked as they continued to walk into the quiet building.

Awesome?? It was _fantastic_!! There were so many shelves dedicated to recorded information, it must have taken thousands of scribes and wise scholars working nonstop for years to create this, which would probably give the carpenters and stone masons enough time to create such a fine place. And look at the glass in those windows, it was tainted pastel colors. Wow...

"It's a really old building," she supplied, watching his eyes dart between features. "I know you're not familiar with the style, unless you _have_ been to Europe, but I think a classically crafted building would be nice to be in. It's one of the only things not modernized here."

She showed him around, talking about how books were made in the future and how the library worked. She had a card which allowed her to take for a certain period of time any book she wanted. Finding the books were a tad more challenging.

There was another interesting system, many of them, to be found in a side room of the building where people seemed more comfortable.

They were called computers, and computers connected to worldly information which was called the Internet. This fabulous tool, however, was very hard to obtain since the keys you used to type in your commands were in a foreign language.

Although that was very interesting, Sesshomaru was more captivated by the books. He already had the gists of the first World War and was reading the end of it by the time the miko got off of the computer, having browsed and check something called an e-mail.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she yelled, seeing him flip over another page. "How fast" flip "can you _possibly_" flip "... read?"

"Fairly," he replied, flipping another page. This was fascinating material.

She stared at him for a full two minutes.

"I don't believe this," she almost laughed when he closed the book. "Can you really read a page every second?"

"Seven hundred years will do that to you," he replied, blinking a few times to saturate his eyes again.

"... Huh..." she commented, watching as he replaced the book where he found it and grab the one next to it. Same author, different war. After another two minutes of him reading she shook her head and began to walk away. "You're giving me a headache just watching you. I'll come back in about an hour, alright?"

She most likely took his silence as an agreement, because she didn't stop walking.

Sesshomaru, left to his doings, read a lot...

By the time she came back, apologizing for being late, he was familiar with all of the large wars and battles, advanced weapons, how America was formed, foreign governmental systems, various concepts of psychology in regards to humans, and even though he read about that last one for the sake of how these wars were constructed, he learned a few interesting traits. Humans created religion out of psychological necessity, and warred over money. They celebrated certain occasions yearly in honor of the events which happened once, and the same celebration would be held for various reasons in different countries. For instance, Christmas. Christmas intrigued Sesshomaru, but it was held during winter, and he certainly hoped to not be there for that long.

It was all interesting. And it all involved humans. Sesshomaru also decided to leave Japanese history alone. It would be his future, so he did not want it wasted. He kept the war dates in mind though...

"So, did you read all of this?" the miko asked, referring to an armload worth of books piled nicely on the table he had used.

"No. I will," he replied. "Where is your card?"

Her eyes went considerably wide, and she came up with a fantastic story of Sesshomaru being from England and wanting to practice reading Japanese in the little time he had left in Japan when the library keeper gave them a look that was two degrees shy of a glare, her nose barely clearing the pile that was deposited unceremoniously onto her desk.

"You could have at least nodded your thanks to her..." the miko stated, walking with him back to the shrine.

"That woman was barely worth the glance I spared her," he stated, easily holding the pile of books in his left hand. He got stares, especially from his little companion, though hers were more from being annoyed rather than impressed. Despite not having his swords, he preferred to keep his sword arm unoccupied, so she could stare uncertainly at him all she wanted.

"Did she annoy you?" she asked, beginning to mount the steps.

Sesshomaru easily leaped to the top, and waited. "She was a miserable old croon."

The miko laughed, beginning to take the steps at a run and reaching the halfway point. "Yeah, well, she has to deal with strangers and books all day." Reaching the top, she stopped and giggled up at him.

He frowned slightly.

"I'm just glad to know I'm worth your acknowledgment," she smiled.

She had quite the quirk of logic, didn't she. "One would expect courtesy for hospitality. No need to jump to conclusions."

"Yeah yeah," she sighed, crossing her arms and stepping forward. She was on a path that would make them bump arms, so he turned slightly to walk alongside her, and suddenly dropped the books and jumped away from her.

"NO WAY!!" she yelled, staring with her index finger still sticking out from under her arm. She had poked him in the side. "You're..."

"Am not," he answered automatically, trying to feel offended by her actions.

"You SO are!!" she yelled, arms hanging at her sides. "You're TICKLISH!!"

As though that were the key word for all things hilarious in life, she began to outright laugh and needed to grab the fence to hold herself up. While he collected the books she slid to the ground, then fell to her side and into the fetal position. He wasn't going to hear the end of this, was he...

"You!" she began, her diaphragm too excited to speak. "Oh, k-kami! That's just!! That's priceless!! Oh, gods, I'm going to die!"

A human dying of laughter. That was beautifully befitting of them... He decided to watch and see if it worked.

After thirty seconds and no dying, he was getting bored.

"Owie!" she wailed, still giggling nonetheless as the book fell onto the ground, having hit her leg. "That's... That's a book! You b-b-bastard!!"

By the time he was halfway through one of the borrowed books, the door closed. He looked over the couch, and meeting eyes with the miko she snorted, covered her mouth, and booked it for her bedroom.

He was faster.

"I fail to see the sheer hilarity in this," he told her sternly. She turned beet red, lips curled in and clamped by her teeth to try and not laugh. Her chest bounced though with hidden giggled and she tried to move around him.

He kept her in place by grabbing her shoulders, and her cheeks suddenly puffed with an odd sound of a restrained chuckle.

"Control yourself," he warned her, beginning to get annoyed by this. She shook her head, still shaking. She was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen soon.

Well... Perhaps he could give her a different reason to laugh...

Her shrill outburst echoed throughout the house when his hand gripped her side and squeezed. So, she was ticklish too, eh?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!" she cried, trying to push on his arms when both his hands assailed her sides. "STO-HA-HA-OP!! PLE-HE-HE-EASE!"

Maybe this was how humans could laugh themselves to death...

Her legs finally gave up on her, and she was hanging in his grasp and head fallen back against the wall, laughing despite the fact he couldn't tickler her like that. Her hands were holding his upper arms weakly, no longer trying to push him away, and she was breathing too heavily for her own health.

"You- ... You sadistic..."

"Bastard?" he asked.

"I was aiming for 'jerk'," she giggled, lifting her head and regarding him. Her mirth died momentarily to make way for shock, then came flooding back in the form of an evil gleam in her eyes. "Aw, Sesshy, I didn't know you cared!" she cooed sarcastically, still being supported by him.

He stared at her. "I don't." He let go and she fell to her ass. Or, would have, but she clung to his sleeves at the last instant as though to drag him down too.

"Meanie," she grumbled, staring at his shoes whilst she hung from him.

"Will you require more tickling to let this Sesshomaru g-"

She moved too quickly, and jabbed her right hand fingers into his left side. A snort escaped him as he knocked her hand away.

"I **KNEW** IT!!" she yelled, positively beaming at him.

He couldn't help but smile, and poked the side of her neck.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" she cried, tilting her head at his hand and leaning away. Unfortunately for her, he had her by the wrist. "I'll kick you!!" she yelled, laughing all over again as he found new places where she was ticklish. If anyone ever saw this he'd probably have to kill her to save face, but for now...

"I swear!!" she yelled with gasps, "I'll purify your ass- so thoroughly- your ancestors will feel it!!"

"You can't unlock your powers in this state," he informed her while holding her up by her wrist. And he was right. He knew she couldn't. Which made this all the more fun! Her fingers clutched and flung open spasmodically over his iron grip, body swaying and shaking depending on where he touched her.

"You're- Not suppose to be- This fun!" she cried, tears beading from her eyes now. "Damn you!! Damn you to he-HAHAHAHAHA!!"

After a few more seconds her laugher was beginning to shorten. "I-! I can't- breathe!"

"Oh, delightful," he stated with a smirk.

"No! B-bad!" she yelled, twisting and turning. "Bad Sesh-shomaru! A-HAHAHA!! Stop! Stop it!! SIT!!"

At that last word, he did stop, and they stared silently at one another for a full three seconds.

Sesshomaru was now laughing as hard as she had been, her quickly joining him. He let her go, and when she fell to the ground with a yelp he leaned his back against the wall, closed eyes facing the ceiling. This wasn't as funny as his reaction made it out to be, but he felt... Good. He felt really good, actually.

He finally calmed to the point that he could find his own feet again, and glancing down he locked eyes with the miko who was sitting and giggling up at him, hugging her knees.

"Oh, kami," he sighed, getting the last few chuckles out. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find anything. The the word jumped out of his mouth for him. "Sesshy??"

She threw her head back again, announcing her mirth to the ceiling and clutching her sides. "I thought- You'd comment on the 'SIT'!"

He was grinning, and took a seat on the second step. Rubbing his eyes with a hand, he looked up and she was smiling at him. It was. ... Odd. "Yes?" he asked.

"I've never seen you like that," she informed, giggling.

"Being a fool?" he asked, unable to make his face straight.

She shook her head. "No. Acting your age."

"M," he toned. "It has been a long time since I was last able to."

"You should do it more," she commented. "Laughing suits you. More so than that stoic face you make all the time. You'd make a lot more friends."

"It is hard to make me laugh," he informed.

"Actually, that was rather easy," she stated with a challenging tone. "Just you wait. You're going to be properly ruling all of the Western Lands, and this crazy miko is going to come crashing into your life without a care of who's watching and make you laugh again."

"Your death would come swiftly," he informed her calmly.

"I'll jab my little crystal at anyone who would dare to try it," she replied.

"That would be me," he stated.

"You wouldn't kill me," she stated matter-of-factly. "Because I'm the one who makes you laugh."

He gave a single wry chuckle at that, which only proved her statement. He was telling himself that he could and _would_ easily kill her if she tried it. It would be simple, and enjoyable, and he should look forward to it. But, he couldn't voice these things, so he ended up smiling at her for a short while.

In that short while, she developed a huge blush while clutching her clothes and then promptly stood, pretending to pick dust off herself. "Well, let's go to the movie."

Her behavior was a little odd, but considering that was nigh expectable from an odd woman he got up a-

...

"Sesshomaru?" she asked, now fiddling with her hair and looking at him from the corner of her eye.

He was shocked. He didn't even finish standing until a few seconds after starting.

"The movie," he stated, sounding a little dumb in his own ears, making his legs function properly and standing. She nodded, looking confused, and began to walk out. She leaving the door open for him to follow, which he did despite himself.

They didn't talk the entire way there. That, or _she_ did and he didn't really register it. Probably the latter. He was far to busy second guessing himself. But, after the twentieth guess, he decided to accept the fact, and dreaded it... Oh, kami, how he dreaded it...

* * *

**A/N:** Sesshomaru's personal little hell is going to begin soon... XD

Hey everyone! I hope you all liked the chapter! Sorry to cut it off there :P It was the only easy breaking point I could find. This chapter was originally unfinished and six pages longer (it was ten this time) and I couldn't finish on time, so here it is!

Remember, if you have any _helpful_ criticism, I would be more than happy to hear it! I don't have any beta readers for these chapters I post, so it's good to get the opinion of someone who just read it. :D

**NOTE:**** Just wanted to say that I will not be updating for about a week. I'm going on a 4-day trip and then need to finish writing the next chapter when I return, so basically that adds up to me updating on the 38****th**** of May… (:P 6/7/08). So, yeah! Surprise me with all your wonderful reviews for the next time I get online!! **

...

... If someone writes a review now saying 'Surprise' I'm going to be laughing about it for days...

**Blather-Bribe-Thing Warning:** Yeah, I'm a review lover now. They make me happy, and being happy makes me want to write, and writing a lot means more frequent updates, and more frequent updates makes you happy, right? :D See? It all works out into a happy circle of fate. Be forewarned though, I reply to every review I get, which I really should stop doing since I'm getting so many per chapter now… (which is awesome!! If you keep up the good work so will I!) XD


	15. An Interesting Girl

**A/N:** Hello everyone! Yes, I am updating earlier than expected, despite the length! The story is taking a few sharp and exciting turns from here on out, and I hope everyone enjoys it!

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**An Interesting Girl**

Sesshomaru was fairly certain that irony was having its way with him. The miko had, quite unwittingly, let off a decent amount of pheromones which now lingered in her scent.

Really, what were the chances of that?

Hormones he could easily deal with, being as they are daily odors, even if coming from three girls who wanted nothing more than to hug him. They were nothing more than a few white flags of bodily chemicals fluttering over a distant horizon, and easily ignored. Pheromones were a very _demanding_ scent though, in the sense of turning around and seeing a blade inches from your face and an army of supporters to back the wielder up. ... Well, it was that bad if you were a male in your prime and didn't have a mate and whatnot, because on the other side of that blade was _suppose _to be the most tantalizing woman known to exist and who you'd give your arm for just to get past that blade... ... This was unfair. SO **unforgivably** unfair. If Sesshomaru already had a mate in mind then things would be far more easily dealt with. Of course, the situation was made worse the more he thought about recent events. Tickling, untying an obi, laughing, her falling on him at the carnival, her clinging to him, happy, free from the oppressions of royalty, deep blue eyes... The universe _hated_ him. He knew it now. Despised him, really. Humans weren't suppose to give that scent off, only demons. ... Right? And she was too young for this! She had yet to fully mature! ... RIGHT?? OH, this would be grating at his instincts for a LONG time, especially considering the season. ... GAH!! WHY!! Why HER!! A _HUMAN_ **MIKO**!! NO!!

As he calmly walked onward, inside he was about ready to claw at his own face and have a very personal conniption right when the pack of hormones squealed at his arrival and encircled him like he were some wounded animal. … That was a cruel comparison.

"Do you like this outfit or something?" one asked in regards to his own.

"You look so much different without that tough armor on!"

"I'm glad you kept the pelt!"

"How exactly to you keep your hair like this?? It's gorgeous!"

Yadda-yadda yadda-yadda yadda-yadda...

"Sesshy, are you sick?"

He looked at the miko who bore a teasing smirk, realizing he had lulled himself into a state of complete and total detachment from the chattering of the three females.

The girls all looked at their friend, then at him.

"That's an ADORABLE nickname!!"

... Oh kami... He had to kill something now... Maybe himself...

"Alright girls, he needs room to breathe," the miko informed. "Want to get slushies at the vendor and sneak them into the movies?"

The girls backed off, and while the miko seemed uninterested in the slushie proposal she was dragged away nonetheless.

Good.

Don't ever come back...

_Ever_...

Even if he didn't want to look away from her, which he must...

...

She got a blue colored slushie, and ground the toe of her tiny shiny shoe into the pavement while she waited, making her leg bend at just that angle which swayed her back in a very pleasing manner.

Yeah... First thing after the movie he was jumping into the well. Even if it didn't work, he was digging his way back to his own time…

The girls didn't immediately come back to where he was left standing. Instead, they walked a little bit further away from him and sat down, having a heated conversation amongst themselves. He couldn't hear them at that distance, considering it was frantic whispering in a crowded area, but he could easily guess what they were talking about when the trio kept throwing him glances.

"ARE YOU **KIDDING** ME?!" the miko yelled, staring horrified at the short haired woman.

Alarmed, and wanting to know more of this subject that apparently concerned him, he jumped over. The trio flinch when he was suddenly there.

"What is the problem?" he asked, regarding Kagome.

"Holy _crap_ you're fast!" the one with her hair pulled back informed him.

"So, that's a 'no'?" the woman with wavy hair inquired.

"A _definite _no!" the miko yelled, still panicked over something. "Would _never _happen!"

"Good!" the dark brown haired woman replied. "Because Hojo's coming!"

"Who?" Sesshomaru asked. The miko suddenly looked like she was dipped in a bucket of dread and hung out to dry.

"Doesn't he go to an all-boy's high school...?" she asked, sounding a little flustered and dazed at the same time.

"Yeah! That's why he's coming to hang out!" the girl with brown hair stated, winking at Kagome. Er, the miko. "You know, he still hasn't given up on you."

The miko who was named Kagome gave a dreadful sigh and finished it while cupping her face. "Just make him go away, please..."

"So, are you still going out with that two-timing guy Inuyasha?"

Sesshomaru felt his anger rise with Kagome's embarrassment. ... The _miko's_ embarrassment... This Sesshomaru angrily stomped his anger down and wanted to sigh with how self-contradicting he was becoming.

"Um, actually, I'm not sure how far things between him and I could get," she admitted, flushing ever so slightly. "I don't know, but I think my attraction to him is fading... He's more like a brother after all. A very protective brother."

There was silence.

"He dumped you..." the girl with her hair pulled back stated.

Kagome was shocked.

"That two-timing creep!" the other fiery girl yelled.

"It's alright Kagome, denial's a common thing," reassured the wavy haired woman as she placed a hand lightly on Kagome's shoulder.

"No one dumped anyone, alright?!" Kagome yelled, standing and slamming her hands to the table in anger. "If _anything_, I'm dumping him!"

The girls all looked at each other, then said at the same time "denial" with a nod of affirmation.

Kagome lost it. Whatever 'it' was. She actually sent 'it' screaming petrified for the hills as she began flicking blue slushie at everyone's clothes in a fit of irritation.

"Good day everyone! Hello Higurashi-san! ... Am I interrupting something?"

Everyone whipped their heads to the side to see a young man approaching from behind the miko. He had short brown hair, and kept a proper air about him.

Sesshomaru wanted to growl threateningly at the lad, then to kill the downright hilarious miko and forsake his bloodline and heritage just to have his peace of mind back. Yet, to do all of that for the sake of sanity seemed just a tad insane…

"Hojo!" she greeted with somewhat false happiness while turning completely around, missing Sesshomaru rubbing the back of his neck with frustration. She plastered a smile to her face as the slushie slipped from her hand unnoticed to splatter over shoes. "What a… surprise!"

"Indeed!" he agreed, holding out his hand. She shook it with the hand not still occupied with a long red straw, and the girl with short brown hair scoffed.

"After so long..." she sighed, twirling her straw in her drink.

The boy smirked, and bent slightly to formally kiss the back of Kagome's hand.

Yanking it to her chest with a sickened expression, Kagome stumbled back and bumped into a secretly annoyed Sesshomaru.

"Oh!" Hojo toned, looking up to meet eyes with the demon lord. "Hello! My name is Hojo, it's an honor to meet y-"

Sesshomaru looked at where the boy was staring, and noticed that his hand had gripped Kagome's shoulder. He was half a thought from removing it too.

"Hojo!" she gave a brilliant exclamation, holding her hand lightly over Sesshomaru's and keeping it in place. She was having a personal session of hyperventilation. "This is my ... _**boy**__friend_!!"

That last word was admirably forced, and even quaked a little with squeaked pronunciation. Sesshomaru could almost hear her pearly little teeth grind against one another.

"WHAT?!" the trio exclaimed.

"But! You just said-"

"Who cares what I just said, I was joking!" Kagome giggled nervously, interrupting the girl with her hair pulled back. The three were pursing their lips at the miko, each for a different reason. "Yes! Completely hilarious, isn't it?? Haha! I got you good! Sesshy, _dear_, would you come over here for a second?"

He was led off with her nails inserted into the back of his hand, an act she was allowed to get away with since her earlier one left him completely baffled. Either this was important enough to risk her life over, or she was too petrified to let go and see what else he would do with the claws currently held down by her palm. Then again, walking with his arm draped lightly over her tiny frame was rather-

Inconceivable!! Yes. It _was_. He wanted to let go. Now... ... He was letting go... ... His will was as intolerable as Tenseiga...

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" she yelled with pained vexation into her palms when she broke away from him, muffling the sound considerably. They had just turned a corner so as to not be seen, and she was pacing. "I'm sorry!" she yelled to him, looking desperate. "Hojo's just so BORING and freakin DETERMINED and OH my GOD, I can't STAND him!! This has been going on since MIDDLE SCHOOL!! You'd THINK he'd learn 'no' means 'no' by now! Oh, WHY did he go to an all BOYS school!? He needs to meet different _girls_, dammit!!"

She was now burying her face into the collar of her baggy short-sleeved shirt, as though to suffocate herself into being calmed.

"What is a boyfriend?" Sesshomaru finally asked, deciding to get the answers to his questions in chronological order...

Her face popped out of the fabric and she looked mortified. "Eh?? ... I said I was sorry! Please don't kill me!!"

He blinked. Killing her was actually, for once, at the bottom of his list of things to do, which was bad. Very bad.

"Explain the term and I will not resent you," he stated in a persuasive manner.

She began chewing on her thumb, the side of her upper lip lifted slightly. "... Do I have to?"

"Yes," he enforced.

"Um, well..." she breathed, rubbing the back of her neck with the hand which didn't have a digit in her mouth. "A boyfriend and a girlfriend are two people who are... Ummmmm..."

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Who are... Seeing one another! And, ah… Getting to know each other?"

She was lying, it was written all over her body in bold print, but since it wasn't in her scent then she was telling part of the truth. Just not all of it. "And?"

She gulped, looking to one side. "Getting to know one another in a… a, ah… friendly manner..."

"Meaning?"

"_Very _friendly..."

"Which translates to what in Japanese?" he inquired, wondering why she refused to flat out tell him.

"A... A step beyond..." she glanced up at him, then looked away. "Courting...?"

Several definitions suddenly sped through his mind, and considering her sheer humiliation only one made sense. Courting was currently being seen as an act of wooing one to be your mate, and the step beyond that meant the desired mate had accepted the pursuer, which opened the door for many entertaining activities. No wonder she was flushing so brightly.

"Please don't kill me..." she mumbled. "I was desperate, I _really_ was... And if there was **any** other guy, trust me, I would have put _him_ in this situation!"

She looked at him in a mix of horror and humiliation when he chuckled dryly.

"Am I _that_ unappealing?" he questioned. He should have left her staring, because the he would have a minute to think about things and put them into a logical order.

She gapped at him, recycling what she just said. "By desperate, I meant for an idea, not entirely for who I chose..." she clarified. "Since you'd sooner kill me than play along. Besides, you're probably _the_ most emotionally stunted person on the face of the planet, past OR future, and I can't imagine you kissing someone, let alone getting married and having kids and what not."

"On the contrary," he corrected, "I have been more emotionally _unraveled_ of late than has been deemed appropriate for myself."

"Well, yeah, you laugh a bit more," she admitted, looking away. She apparently did not know him too well. "But you still seem pretty numb to the whole 'there are others in the world besides this Sesshomaru' concept."

"I am working on that," he assured sarcastically. "It is difficult not to with such an outspoken woman in your midst."

"Gee, thanks," she grumbled, pacing in a small and indecisive oval of dread.

"And acts such as kissing and love making are not uncommon for someone of my age, miko." In fact, he would be happier if they were _more _common. Perhaps then he could think straight when the miko turned on him, making him recall the scent lingering around them.

The universe... How to get back at the universe...

"That's gross," she stated, suddenly refusing to meet his eye. Oh yes, she was very young still… "I don't even want to think about it..."

Nor did he, because he was sure that mating a human would be entertaining and interesting in more ways than one. His inner demon was simply purring at her now... Damn, what a flaky essence... Why couldn't it go back to wanting to eat her alive? And damn his most recent thought process to the cold stagnant depths of-! She was looking at him.

"Sesshomaru, are you alright?" Kagome asked.

"I am fine," he bit out brashly, wishing he could beat that purring noise out of existence. It was like trying to push a stubborn cat off your chest, in regards to the claws... The noise was actually ringing in his ears.

"So, you ARE going to kill me for me calling you my boyfriend," she replied quickly. Because fate deemed him to be with someone who talks in rapid fire when nervous. "Well, you could have the damn courtesy to do it now and get if over with. But, then again, you _do_ like to watch things suffer, so I suppose that-"

"Stop talking," he told her, pushing her to the wall in a common act of dominance so that she'd shut up. He couldn't thing while she was talking, and holding her there he stared off past the road to visually ignore her. Well, he _could _think through her chattering, but he couldn't focus on any topic he wanted to... And her body heat increased and sent more of that foul, nasty, wondrous odor to assail his senses.

"Sesshomaru?" she asked, a little shakily. Her voice vibrated against his palm, reminding him where he had carelessly left it. … Just a few inches lower and he'd be feeling cleavage rather than her collarbone. "You look really angry, and... _confused_. We don't have to see the movie if you don't want to. We really don't. We can go back and pretend like nothing ever happened."

"The distraction would be nice," he stated, being unhooked from a good thought and thrown back into the whirlpool that was reality. Women were truly demons no matter the species, at certain times... He pulled his hand back, and she sighed with relief.

"Okay," she replied. "We'll see the movie then. I'll stand here by myself too, you don't have to restrain me again. It's a brick wall anyway, which is a bit uncomfortable, and I don't like being pressed up against it."

He wanted to cover his ears. She was talking too much. Again... And she seemed nervous. Why did she _love_ talking when she was nervous? It put quite the annoying spin on his favorite pastimes, considering most were aimed to put her nerves on edge...

She kept talking, and despite himself he was listening. Halfheartedly, but he was. That damnable scent had his senses targeting her, so he noticed how very gently her chest lifted with breath, how wild her hands were as she spoke, how easily and smoothly her lips moved and flowed into different shapes as she articulated her words... She said she's never been kissed before...? ... Hm...

"Maybe you should go to the hospital," she finally suggested, now just leaning against the wall. "You're not yourself. It's sorta scary..."

"Scary?" he asked. That wasn't a word he was expecting to hear.

"Or, _creepy_..." she replied, shifting some more. "It makes me uneasy, please stop..."

…

She was being contradictory. Females only released that malicious odor when in the presence of the man they wanted to mate with. Not that he would even consider it, but still... Was it different for humans? Did they normally seek multiple mates in life?

He shook his head, not wanting to think like that. But, she was telling him he was scary and looking unwell, which was not what women releasing that scent around him before had said. That odor was suppose to be a lure. A sign of readiness and nigh unfathomable willingness, and usually one he gave in to.

However, he was stuck with a woman whom he not only wanted to ignore and be far away from at that moment, but who also did not seek him as a mate.

That last idea made the gears of his mind slowly come to a stop. This wasn't natural. It was _far_ from natural...

"Sesshomaru," she spoke his name. "Um... Do you have a fever?"

A gear twitched, making him process a thought. This woman found him undesirable. …

"Why are your expressions changing so quickly?" she squeaked in a dry sob of hopelessness when he stared at her in shock. This woman found _him_ undesirable?? This _human_ did? Him? He had several female demons whom he'd never met before come _dancing_ up to him with one thought on their minds, yet here he was, in the long-time company of this miko, and although she released the scent she would deny him? Wow... That was a really good shot for his ego, and she wasn't even trying... That's like getting kicked between the legs by a sleeping person, it just shouldn't happen... Actually, he was rather affronted…

"I want proof!"

Both Sesshomaru and Kagome looked at the girl with dark brown hair, who stomped to a stand nearby and addressed them both with tiny fists planted on her hips.

"WHAT??" Kagome whimpered. Sesshomaru just stared. Fate was probably laughing its ass off somewhere in the near vicinity.

"You said the two of you are dating, so prove it!" she confronted them with. "It wouldn't be _too_ hard to do."

"You've got to be joking!" Kagome yelled. "Yuka, we- UM!! We just admitted having feeling for each other, that's all! We're still just holding hands, and-"

Oh yes, this was promising. It will be fun to see her explain her way out of _this_ one.

... Wait, did she just say they admitted feeling for each other...?

"Why don't you two cut through the mushy business and kiss then?" the 'friend' asked, giving the young newcomer male an apologetic look when he approached with the other two women.

"Yuka!" Kagome yelled. "This is mean! I'll put a restraining order on you!"

"It's natural!" the girl defended herself with a laugh. "Besides, seeing the two of you kiss would be quite the pretty sight!"

Both members of the addressed party were suddenly angry, and they spoke at the same time.

"Ridiculous," he growled.

"I would NEVER kiss him!!" the miko yelled.

Even Sesshomaru stared at her on that note.

"Oh really?" he asked with a smirk. She gave him a death glare.

"Oh, then I suppose things aren't going too well between the two of you?" Yuka suggested. "I mean, Kagome, you don't want to be hung up on another guy so soon after Inuyasha, right?"

Sesshomaru's patience was ready to break like fine china all over the place, and there would be blood.

"Yuka, stop butting into my life!" the miko yelled at her friend.

"She's right," stated the woman with wavy hair, smiling. "Love's something you can't force. It takes time."

"Yeah, come on," sighed the one with her hair pulled back. "I mean, half the credits are probably over by now..."

There was a sudden panic, just like before, and the cluster of annoyance ran for their seats. This left Sesshomaru plenty of time to ignore the miko, and vice versa.

"Listen," she finally began. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. Let's just go back to the shrine. I could use more training anyway..."

He spared her a glance. "That was very poorly handled, miko."

She puffed her chest slightly at him. "Yeah, well...! ... Thanks for not killing anyone..."

"It was tempting," he admitted.

She looked up at him for a short time, then giggled. "Kami, I hope no one has to ever suffer with another person like you and I have to..." She walked for the entrance.

"Are you insinuating that this Sesshomaru is insufferable?" he inquired, holding the odd glass and metal door open for himself after she waked in. Through another set of doors she glanced back at him while bracing the entrance open again until he'd grab it.

"Very much so. _You_ haven't tried living with yourself," she replied, smirking. "You deserve a lot of tickling and roller coaster rides to make up for making me put up with you."

Well, at least she made him laugh...

They were walking into a dark room that was absolutely _littered_ with seats, and reeked of humans. Maybe going back to the shrine would have been better...

"Kagome!!" one of the more tame girls from above yelled, waving a hand excitedly. Kagome waved back, and began mounting the steps, which were highlighted with very tiny lights.

The miko took a seat next to the girl with her hair pulled back, commenting on how crowded it was, and seeing Sesshomaru standing and looking around she lowered the bottom of the seat next to herself and offered for him to sit. Not wanting to be rude, as she was accusing him of being of late, he took it.

… Hm, he was sitting too close to her now…

"Fine, be that way," she suggested as he took the next seat over.

"Oh!" the short haired girl exclaimed. "Hey! Eri! Do you want some popcorn??"

"Yes!" the girl exclaimed.

"Well, Hojo doesn't like it, so switch places!" The miko looked pissed. "Hurry! The movie's about to start!"

"_No! Wait!_" the miko hissed, trying to grab the back of her friend's shirt as she got up. "Oh, YUKA!"

Sesshomaru had thought only he could make Kagome utter curses through gritted teeth, and was oddly relieved that it wasn't true.

"I enjoy these theaters!" the young man informed with a smile, getting comfortable next to Kagome.

"They're a blast..." she replied in a very moaning tone. A blast of what?

"I don't eat the popcorn here. It's too greasy and the kernel shells get stuck in my teeth."

Oh, kami, he WAS boring... What kind of a conversation starter was THAT??

"M," Kagome intoned, glancing around. "Wow, I never asked! What movie are we watching anyway?"

"Oh, they didn't tell you?" the boy asked. "We're watching the feature clip of the day. It's the dubbed over movie Titanic. It's suppose to be really good, despite the mouth movements in dubbing. ... Kagome?"

The miko very unceremoniously scrambled away and over Sesshomaru's knees, threatening to unbalance and fall into his lap, and muttering something about drinks she booked it down the steps and back into the light of day. Sesshomaru was surprised she didn't break her neck with that little display.

Very amusing.

"Kagome!" yelled her three friends, the biggest nuisance of the lot hopping over the row of chairs in front of them and running down the empty aisle after the miko like she was her prey.

Alright. He had to see this. And he could use a drink anyway...

"You EVIL, conniving BITCH!" was the outburst to greet him. A beautiful start.

"What!?" the friend demanded. "It's only a little more than two hours Kagome, can't you handle that?"

"No! And it's over THREE hours!"

"Oh, cut the drama and let's get back in. The lights were dimming on our way out!"

"Yuka, I _really_ don't want to give Hojo any false hope! Or _any_ hope for that matter! I'm not interested in him!"

"You're pretty mean to him..."

"Wow, coming from you, that says a **lot**..."

"**Hey**! I'm only looking out for your best interests, alright??"

"_I'll_ do that, thanks! If you're looking out for Hojo's, then YOU can date him!"

"Are you kidding??"

"Oh, so he doesn't strike **your **fancy either?"

This was getting good... He didn't peep around the corner though, he was fairly sure he'd be noticed.

"No, it's just that he refuses to see anyone other than you! Besides, he's a really sweet guy!"

"Yeah, with the personality and intelligence of a computer."

"Kagome, we have to be looking to the future of things! Intelligent men are _desirable_ men, don't you get that yet??"

Sesshomaru logged that last bit. Not that he'd ever need it, he was quite intelligent already.

"Maybe for _you_,"the miko replied. "I just can't see myself living with him, let alone dating him! He's so **boring**, and **plain**, and I would **hate** to have little boring Hojo's running around the house! And I am not even old enough to be thinking about kids!"

That she wasn't. And she was right, raising his kids did seem to be an undeserving fate for anyone who had a life of their own, even the miko.

"You know what, _fine_! I'm giving up on you Kagome. Good luck with all the losers you've been picking up!"

Little stomping feet approached, and the intolerable woman walked angrily past Sesshomaru and into the room again.

He nonchalantly smacked the back of her head with his knuckles.

"What the hell!" she seethed, turning and realizing who she just stormed past and called a loser.

"Mind yourself, child," he warned. She stared at him, a tad horrified, and not wanting to have to look at her he stepped to the side and let the door close.

Some innocent thing was being kicked, by the sounds of it.

"Dang it!" the miko cursed, walking away from the floor-fixated garbage can and past the doorway Sesshomaru was standing in. She was heading for the food bar, and seemed angry enough to not have noticed him. He followed her.

"What do _you_ want?" she grumbled miserably when he stood next to her.

"A drink," he replied, giving her some space. He didn't want to be poked in the side again after all.

She scoffed so softly that even he was hard pressed to actually hear it. "How about this. I'll do something for you if you're willing to do something for me."

"That sounds fair," he replied.

"Good!" she said with a smile, turning back to the cashier. "I'd like two giant bags of popcorn, and two waters please!"

When they entered the theater again, she stopped quickly and looked up.

"Okay!" she whispered excitedly, shifting the two bags of popped corn into one arm so she could point up. He had to crane his neck to follow her finger. "See where the wall levels off and this wall next to us stops slopping up to it with the stairs? I'd very much appreciate it if you could lift me up there in one jump.

She was serious?

"Heights no longer scare you?" he asked sarcastically, glancing back when a splash of white and purple hit the screen. Nice outfit... Very BIG television…

"I just don't trust some of those rides," she replied, looking at him hopefully.

"So you trust this Sesshomaru then?"

He wasn't expecting her to smirk.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I trust you. Now come on, let's have some fun!" Her face fell for a moment. "Oh... Right, I almost forgot about the whole 'no touch' thing with yo-"

Before she could finish that hindering reminder, Sesshomaru easily tucked a hand around her waist and jumped up. Her torso hit heavily against his for once unarmored one, but she didn't scream into his ear so all was good. They were just making the drop above the waist-high wall when her free arm darted behind his neck for security.

Her warm little hand left immediately once her feet touched the ground, and with a giddy thanks she ran to the empty back of the theater. He followed while wondering if he would have removed the hand of any other being who did that to him, rubbing his neck while he was at it. Not too many people were on this list of trusted and tolerated, and he never imagined the miko would keep all four limbs after an act such as that.

He was in the middle of reprimanding himself for his lack of action when Kagome threw something.

"Not even close!" she muttered, crouched between two of the back seats near the floor. She selected another popped kernel, and lobbed it into the air at the young girl who tried to destroy her evening. It was a horrible shot.

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking down at that crazy little being.

She cackled lightly yet evilly to herself. "I've always wanted to do this!" She waved her hands frantically as though to make the wind pull him down to her, so he knelt. Kagome displayed for him a little kernel of popcorn. "Alright! Take this, and try to hit them."

"Try?" he inquired.

"Fine, DO hit them! Your aim is probably better anyway."

Grabbing another piece, the miko tossed it, and was closer to her target by a foot. "Damn!"

Sesshomaru, his smile hidden inside, positioned his hand and flicked his piece.

"OW!!" yelled the twit halfway down the theater from them, looking around angrily. Sesshomaru and Kagome had ducked by then, and were now exchanging humored glances.

"That was amazing!" Kagome breathed, looking delighted. She peeked over the chair top, and giggled. "She's actually rubbing the spot. That's so priceless, I wish I had that sort of strength!"

He shrugged. "It is possible."

Although the movie was a fascinating instrument in and of itself, with what the miko identified as the screen, surround sound and story plot, the thing which proved to be the most interesting and self-involving was teaching her how to flick around what she called 'super popcorn'. She caught on surprisingly quickly, which was odd since without knowing the other exercise she shouldn't even be able to make the popcorn glow.

Then again, she was using so much energy that the popcorn should either implode or catch fire…

Now she was juggling three nigh-neon blue pieces in the air without moving her hands. Just flowing energy, and saying how amazed she was every five seconds; believe him, he counted.

With a glance she sent a piece flying out of the loop above her palms and into some nearby plastic. She put dents into quite a few chairs, and Sesshomaru was certain that some random servants would wonder just how exactly the starchy food had inserted itself so precisely into the fabric of the seat cushions.

"This is so awesome..." she sighed, glancing up and sending another piece sky-rocketing for the ceiling. It didn't come down. "I think I'm overdoing this somehow."

"You lack control," he supplied, surprised that the popcorn wasn't sizzling from her energy-overload on it. Control was what they had been trying to achieve for so long, making the energy obey its possessor and stay dormant. It she forever had no control, then Sesshomaru would run for the hills whilst she try and activate the well again. Playing with popcorn was safe enough though, so long as she wasn't aiming for him... That would actually sting quite a bit despite his rather high resistance to spiritual powers.

"So, I can't shoot her in the back of the head?" the miko asked.

"Go ahead," he replied. "It would only kill her. One less human never hurt anyone."

The miko scoffed. "Your honesty is almost as admirable as it is depressing."

Despite that last statement the miko offered him a smile, and for the rest of the movie they completely emptied the two bags of popcorn onto Kagome's short haired friend and pursuer, and their seats.

"Did you SEE their FACES!!" Kagome cried with happiness, doing little circles as she tried to walk in a straight line. She did a fairly good job, falling off the curb only once. "Oh kami, I feel so sorry for those janitors! I would HATE to be in their shoes and look at those seats after we were done with them!"

He decided that he liked her sadistic side the best. It made her seem less human and more sane.

"That movie was based off of a true event?" he asked again.

"Yes, _Sesshy_," she replied, relaying her irritation via the new nickname. They continued talking about the movie for the duration of the walk, and when they arrived there was a note where the pile of books had been left on the kitchen table.

"Glad you're reading," the miko read aloud, "but please keep the house neat while you do it. We'll be back in- IN A **WEEK**?!"

Kagome's eyes insanely skimmed over the tiny note several times, and she sat down heavily at the table.

Sesshomaru was not too preoccupied with the contents of the note. He was much too busy getting a visual of what was beeping and getting on his nerves.

"What the hell..." the miko asked herself when he approached the odd little machine which flashed a segmented vertical line at him. "Sesshy, what are you doing...?"

"Entitle me properly, little miko," he replied, picking the device up. It was wired to the wall.

"You do the same and I'll consider it," she stated, looking over. "... There's a message?"

It beeped, and she saved it from being smashed by grabbing it away from him.

'You have, one, new message,' the machine spoke at an odd note, beeping once more.

"Hello dear!" came the mother's voice. She sounded quite excited. "I'm sorry I couldn't leave you much more notice! Grandpa just won a radio contest, and we had twenty minutes to pack and be there! We're going on a week long cruise! I'm so sorry to have to tell you this in a message, but there were only three tickets given out, so Grandpa, Sota, and I decided to pack up for a week! I'm running out of time on this pay phone, but we won't be having any reception on a boat and can't get on a computer, so I hope everything will be fine on your end. Go ahead and take money from The Jar, that should be enough to get you through the week and then some. If you wreak anything or need help, remember our relatives and don't bother the police too much. Let's see, what else... Oh! Please feed Buyo every _other_ morning, he's on a diet still, and I hope everything goes well with you and your friend! The taxi just pulled up to take us all the way to the harbors, so we're on our wa- Yes, Sota, go ahead and get in! We all love you sweetie! Take care!"

There was a click and that was it. The miko continued to stare at it, eyes rather shadowed by her bangs.

She abruptly snapped somewhere deep inside though when she began beating the counter top.

"GAAAAAAAAH!!" she yelled. "It's not fair!! It makes perfect sense and it's wonderful for them, but- GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

"Is something wrong?" Sesshomaru asked, completely confused.

"_Yes_!" she practically sobbed. "I got _gypped_!! Out of a CRUISE!!" She claimed a seat with a breathy huff and scrubbed her fingers through her hair. "And the timing is HORRIBLE!!"

Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow at her, and she rolled her eyes and looked out the kitchen window, her chin resting in a palm.

"Aaaaaaaaargh… I'm suppose to have a boyfriend when the entire house is suddenly dumped into my care. It's in so many movies that it should be a part of life itself!" She threw him a look. "Instead I'm stuck with a regal dog..."

He scowled at her.

"Hey, _you're_ the one who hates humans, don't blame me for identifying you by your proper nature," she defended herself.

"Taking the form of a human is simply more beneficial for demons," he stated gruffly, still offended. She _did_ say 'dog' in a rather sarcastic way... "It is like English being the official language."

She became interested, and within five minutes he was sitting at the table and trying the tea of the future while listing off the reasons of his claim; such as easy maneuverability, specialized attacks, utilizations of crafted weapons since humans had opposable thumbs, and more.

"Having an official manner of body language amongst other high ranking demons of different species is also desirable," he continued, noticing the moon light had passed considerably across the table. Time tended to sneak out the back door when he was with Kagome. "Although my kind do not suffer with things such as foul odor and endearment of injury, we do experience other setbacks such as lack of control in appearance and withheld energy. That is, however, a small price to pay in exchange."

A few seconds passed before she realized he had finished, and blinked. "Wow... That's really... Wow."

Wow indeed. He never spoke so much in one sitting. And that had been a long sitting. The water in the kettle was at room temperature and it felt like he had gone to the library over a day ago.

The miko yawned and looked over at the microwave. "It's only nine??"

So it was. Still early. She got up and stretched, her shirt lifting to expose a small portion of her abdomen. Apparently hefting a bow across his lands and riding that odd shiny thing of hers gave her a sufficient workout.

"Are you bored?" she asked.

"No." And he wasn't. He was use to being alone, and he certainly had plenty to read and keep himself busy with.

"Alright," she replied, yawning and turning for the stairs to her room. "Well, _I_ got up at four, so I'm off to bed. Good night, Sesshy."

He smiled wryly. "Good night, little miko."

"Yeah, yeah, screw you too," she stated halfheartedly, shaking her head as a giggle escaped her. A look crossed her face and she regarded him. "I've been meaning to ask… You and your father came to Japan from China, didn't you?"

He nodded. "My mother as well. That was rather perceptive of you."

She flushed slightly. "Yeah, well, your clothes give that away for the most part… Besides, there weren't any dogs in Japan until Americans came over and brought them as pets, so your species shouldn't have been introduced until far later…"

So, dogs were shipped to the island at that time… Considering he hadn't read about the history of Japan, that was a new fact for him.

"Also," she continued, "if China is to the west of Japan, and you're Lord of the Western Lands, do you reign over part of the continent too?"

"Not yet," he informed her. "It remains under the control of my uncle."

She nodded. "Huh… Alright, see you tomorrow!"

Sesshomaru, now sitting outside in his usual spot and halfway through his fifth book, admitted that he couldn't keep his mind on it and set it aside. Kagome had found the pile relocated to her room, and brought a third of them down to his while he was slipping his swords back into place under his sash. Although the air outside was clean and refreshing without any annoying feminine scent, he still couldn't keep his mind off of her.

* * *

**A/N:** How was that? Long? Just a little over eighteen pages, actually! Thank you all so much for the reviews, faves, and alerts for the last chapter! You did a great job of making my inbox beg for mercy!

So, even if the characters are a bit OOC, I hope everyone likes how the story is turning out. If not, please tell me! I would prefer no rudeness or cursing (directed at me), but I WOULD like to know what you're thinking. After all, I love to hear what anyone and everyone has to say, and I'm not stating that for review counts. I actually hate short reviews because they really don't say anything I haven't already heard, and I've been inviting everyone to verbally butcher this story as best as they can but no one will. I won't stop writing it if I get 'flames', I actually want them. So, yeah, BLAH!!

Also, YES!! I updated as soon as I got back from my trip and re-read the chapter, because I ended up dragging my poor old laptop with me, so I got to write a bit! There was a dependable lack of free Internet everywhere though, so that part was less than pleasing, but at least I got to write. It was amusing, because some parts had me giggling like mad and my mom would look up from her evening magazine and ask what on earth was so funny. I'd tell her, but it'd be a cold day in Phoenix before she understood _anything_ Inuyasha related! Anyway, I'll be aiming to update every three to five days again! Please review in any manner you see fit! :D


	16. Something New

**A/N:** Sorry this took so darn long to write! Hopefully the length makes up for that... This was an annoying chapter to compose, and it simply refused to write itself...

So, to sum the week up, I got sick with migraines on the side, my friend flew in for a visit to deem me hostess, and my doggie has been threatening us with a litter of fat healthy pups, so I've had my hands full. :P

Read, enjoy, reviews please!

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Something New**

Two days had passed...

Two _long_ and **boring** days...

The miko, for some unnamed reason, was determined that Sesshomaru find his own sources of amusement and leave her and her sanity be. This led him to finish all of the books within a few hours, roam the grounds for over a day, and wind up in one of the storage units; the one connecting to the house.

Inside it he found both a sword and an idea.

"I don't care _how_ bored you are," the miko stated around a stick of Pocky, flipping to a different channel, "I'm _not_ sparing with a demon lord."

Feeling quite stubborn, Sesshomaru propped the weapon near her blanketed self as she sat curled up comfortably on the couch for the evening. "Arm yourself or forfeit your life," he informed, drawing Tenseiga while looking his usual unreadable self. The sword giggled in his grip as well as any sword could.

"A-" she began, Pocky falling from her mouth as she looked from him to the weapon and back again. "Are you KIDDING?? I've never used a sword in my _life_!!"

This was _bound_ to be amusing then. "You have ten seconds."

"What!!" she demanded, completely resistant to the idea of actually getting off that couch.

"Nine."

"Wait a minute!"

"Eight."

"You ARE joking, right??"

"Seven."

"..."

"Six."

"Shit!"

He smirked as she scrambled for the blade and commented on it being a prized relic from some previous holy owner. "Five."

"Screw you!" she yelled cutely, trying to free the blade from its rusted sheath.

"Four."

She threw aside the blanket and frantically ran her barely clad little body towards the failing daylight. Nighttime short-shorts and a small T-shirt, lovely… A good thing she hadn't released that blasted scent for the last two days. Speaking of scents, he was quite impressed that despite her fleeing, there wasn't a trace of fear in her. Maybe that's why fighting her seemed so promising. He'd teach her fear, and he would enjoy every second of it.

"Three!" he yelled so she could hear him, actually smiling faintly over all of this. She was a great torture subject, watching her fumble with the door handle then flee onwards was delightful.

"I hate you, SESSHY!!" she bellowed from outside, the distinct ring of the blade finally coming free echoing across the vast court.

"Two!"

"Go to hell!! I may be armed but I suck with swords!"

"One!"

She didn't say anything to that, so he zipped outside to start having fun at her expense.

She was nowhere in sight... There was, however, a distinct sensation of spiritual energy wafting through the air.

He scanned the area, seeing no place for her to have hidden herself sufficiently in so little of time. He didn't even know she was looking for a place to hide, it didn't seem to be a part of her nature to seek refuge...

"I'm right HERE, so just get it over with!"

Sesshomaru's attentions shot to where the annoying voice came from, and he noticed a very faint evening shadow on the ground.

"You act like you can't even see me," she stated, making his eyes dart to where her mouth would be. He altered his view slightly upwards so he would look at her hidden eyes, and the shadow shifted uncomfortably. He indeed couldn't see her, apparently thanks to the magic-imbued sword, but he could feel her glaring at him, and his senses simply tingled with the promised challenge of finding his big-mouthed prey. This was quite splendid. She was going to have sword lessons from now on, no debate needed. "... Sesshy?"

"The counting is over," he informed, raising Tenseiga. He couldn't cut her down with it, but the blade could certainly fight another blade. "Prepare yourself."

Sesshomaru's senses heightened thrillingly as he ran at her. He could hear the foreign blade's path through the air, and Tenseiga swept up and for the miko's chest where she held her new weapon protectively. Sparks flew brightly between them, from the collision of both steels and energies. He apparently hit too hard, because the miko's shadow went flying a short distance.

"You freakin' ass!" she yelled, angry. "Are you being seri-HEY!!"

He could tell by her shadow where her legs were, and missed her left thigh by centimeters while digging Tenseiga's tip into the ground. The sword was having fun as well, making it somewhat hard to hold with how its handle vibrated. She rolled away and scrambled onto her feet, her sword's tip dragging loudly for a moment before being lifted. There was a swish in the air, and Sesshomaru jumped away when the sword came swinging full circle around her and towards him.

"This is _really_ mean!" she yelled at him, now still and probably in that useless stance again.

"Think of it as a roller coaster ride," he offered. "You are experiencing those same sensations after all."

"Yeah, maybe I am, but I wasn't facing off with a demon who's claimed _six_ **hundred** _**years**_ of sword experience at that time either!"

He smirked, watching her shadow take a step back when he took one closer. "The 'immanent death' on the ferries wheel was worrying because it proved to be a situation completely out of your hands. So do the proper thing and take matters into your hands now."

He performed the same cut as he had before, straight for her chest in a perfectly ground-level stroke, and her blade bent to where her face was suppose to be and sent Tenseiga passing over and through with the motion. This time she had ducked with her sword still lifted, and now skittered off somewhere. Well, she tried to. With his senses nicely sharpened he could practically see the air part around her form, the noise molding form, he easily tripped her because her ankle was only ten inches from his and darting away.

She gave a hard 'oof' and fell onto her stomach, suddenly reappearing as her sword went clattering a few feet out of reach. She went to grab it, and found Sesshomaru's foot weighing it down.

"That was easy," he told her, Tenseiga held under her petite chin.

She glared passionately up at him, the sunset reflecting amber sparks from her blue eyes and hair. Despite the scowl, she looked quite lovely in that light. "Yeah, I told you it would be."

"Stand," he ordered, toe catching the hilt and making the sword jump onto its tip. He grabbed the handle and then the blade, offering it to her. "Let us see how long you last next time, after some instruction."

She allowed him to proffer the blade to her longer than need be, eying it like it would bite. "You've got a lot of good jokes of late, don't you?"

"Take it, miko."

"I don't want to, _Sesshy_."

"Then die unarmed." He lowered the blade away from her, and she immediately grabbed it with a stubborn expression. She didn't disappear this time, which solved one little mystery. No miko powers meant no special sword techniques. "We will practice. Without using energies this time."

"You know," she commented an hour later, the sun completely at rest and allowing the stars to blink awake, "I once thought that being trained by the great son of the dog general and lord of the western lands was laughable."

So she said when he was behind her, favoring her right, and shifting her grip on her new sword. It was too heavy for a woman, especially for a beginner, but she didn't need to know that. In fact, this wasn't even a European double-handed longsword, just a regular looking double-edged blade which was suppose to be handled with a single hand, not two. If it were a katana, she'd have a far easier time with it, but the metal was as straight as could be at a hand's width of blade, along with ridiculously heavy. "Even royalty can pity your form."

"U-huh," she replied, her pitch higher at the beginning of the word for her doubt. Her loose grip allowed him to move her right hand further up the handle, which would let her deal with the weight more easily than having them knuckle-to-knuckle. "You're having fun, aren't you?"

He spared her a glance, her blue orbs glimmering with the stars along with the faint amount of sweat on her brow. He frowned slightly at her. Any man with eyes could tell that she was using the elements to her advantage, yet she seemed completely ignorant of the fact.

She quickly continued before he could reply. "I thought you were suppose to resent mikos, not train them to be less than hopeless."

"It is in my nature, yes," he admitted, watching the sword drop slightly when he wasn't holding it up with her. "Keep a fist's width between your hands. You do not want to be swinging it around as uselessly as a certain hanyou does."

"Aw, but it looks like fun," she teased with a smile.

He ignored that. "From this point on you will be receiving physical reprimands."

"Come again?" she asked. "You mean you've shown me the basics and now you want me to learn through experience??"

He nodded. It seemed like a waste of time to show her how to do this, but considering the sword made her concentrate her energies and provided him with amusement when she experienced irregular spurts of invisibility it was not a total loss. Perhaps they would have a decent spar once on the other side of the well. One she would indefinitely lose. He could kill her through a fight, but he would admit having a hard time committing such an act otherwise; a fact which showed she had already rooted herself too securely in his mind. That was a flaw on his part, and he tried to clear his mind on whether dueling her would be more rewarding during the sunset or night. He was favoring sunset, it made her skin look so much warmer than usual. "The basics are all anyone should learn. The rest would be gained through experience. In such way, specialization of form is acquired, and that gives the wielder an advantage in battle." Definitely sunset... Or sunrise?

"Being unpredictable, you mean?" she asked, glancing down to make sure her feet were still placed properly.

He'd decide when they spared in the morning...

"Correct." Although he couldn't fight to his full potential without making things extremely easy, for himself, Sesshomaru was still enjoying the passing time. She made a sloppy charge at him, and he stepped aside and smacked her backside with the flat of Tenseiga.

"AH!! Owie!" she yelped, covering her tush with a hand and offering him an offended look.

He rolled his shoulders, finally succeeding at keeping his facial expression the same. "You allowed it to happen." Dear kami, he sounded like his father...

"I didn't think you'd mean THAT kind of physical!" she yelled, rubbing the spot in a rather adorable manner. "I'm getting you back for that one."

"Good luck," he granted her. She'd need it.

"It'll be dumb luck," she sighed. "If any."

Sesshomaru had to admit, he didn't think the miko would hold up for so long.

"This," she panted two hours later, nails attempting to insert themselves into the wall while her sword arm hung limply at her side, blade touching the ground, "is HELL!!"

"Hell is worse," he assured her, examining the healthy bruise that was developing on her outer thigh. Although Tenseiga couldn't stab or slice anything down, the sides and back of the blade were usable. Most of her minor injuries were from the torso down, as he was avoiding her bitten shoulder. The marks remained, but she didn't mind revealing them since they were scared over. She commented on them being a 'tattoo' to her friends, and went on talking about beings called vampires. If he exposed the wound to any demonic energy though, her weak seal would break and the amount still in her would run wild and happily once more. "If you tire, then go inside. It will be raining soon."

Maybe during sunset while it was raining...

"Really?" she asked, looking up to see the nicely sized clouds boiling overhead. "I don't mind the rain, it would be nice to cool off a bit." He quirked a brow at her as she reclaimed her feet and held up the sword. "Unless _you _want a break, then by all means I'll take a bath."

She was teasing him, so he smirked faintly in reply to her sarcasm as per usual. After five minutes the miko was panting and on her back with a blade at her chest, again, and the first raindrops began to irregularly speckle the pavement. By the time she laboriously stood, it was an utter downpour.

"You could have said it'd be a monsoon!!" she yelled over the sound of hundreds of buckets being poured out all around them, let alone on them. Rather, on _her_… Sesshomaru had jumped speedily to the overhang of the well shrine. It was an impressive amount of rain, those tiny drops actually tickled. Kagome ran over, the mystic sword now in its scabbard as she entered the two foot wide dry zone outside the well doors. She was sodden while he was mostly untouched, and looked quite miserable as her hair was drawn into little rivulets of rain traveling down her pink-cheeked face.

"How long is this going to last?" she asked, leaning over and wringing a short stream from her dark locks. Her skin was missing its natural flush and had grown odd little bumps.

"Hours," he replied, opening the door and taking a seat inside. He quickly learned that certain light colors of thin sleeping fabric, when wet, revealed undergarments and the lack there of rather easily while clutching to curves.

...

He looked away from the not too displeasing sight, and saw her ridiculously large yellow bag was still propped against the side of the well. She always had it there in case the time traveling device decided to randomly work once more.

Kagome gave a vexed sigh, and checked for the fifth time that day to see if the doorway to the past had activated. It hadn't.

"I'll bet it's clear skies over there too," she sighed, now sitting on the lip of the well and rubbing her wet, naked, bumpy arms. Her bare little feet had dirt clinging to the moisture, and he had no idea why he would ever note such a thing. "And to think I could still be inside, watching TV, and warm, and commenting on how glad I am to not be stuck in this _exact_ situation..."

She gave a mighty sneeze for someone her size and shortly after began to shiver, rubbing more vigorously. Apparently she was cold, which Rin had taught him wasn't the best thing for humans. Without a second thought he shrugged off his pelt, removed his swords and then the sash, and stood to peel off armor as the miko continued to rant. It's alright, she could rant, he had selective hearing.

"AAAGH!! You just HAD to drag me outside in my lounging attire too, didn't you?! Shorts and a thin tank shirt, I can't believe this! ... AGH!! And it's WHITE!! That's MORTIFYING!!" Alright, his hearing was not so selective on a select few... She quickly covered her chest and turned away from him, but still rubbed her arms. Humans... She would probably freak out over his loosened hakama ties too if her back wasn't squared at him . "Look at me and die," she then threatened, which was laughable. Although wearing clothing is to be expected, being naked was only natural. And here she was, 'mortified', because the various colors and curving slopes of her breasts revealed themselves. The sight certainly never bothered him... Or, so he thought as he loosened the under obi which held his haori in place. Taking the heavy outer fabric off, he tighten various ties once more and looked at the miko to see that she was indeed still bitching. "This is so unfair, and mean, and spiteful, and I can't believe this is happening, and I'm going to die of hypothermia, and it's all your fa-"

She shut up immediately when his white and red haori settled over her shoulders, and she stood immediately and turned around in shock with a questioning look, automatically clutching the warm fabric tightly around herself.

"I have invested too much time in you to have you fall over dead from disease, little miko," he explained, shifting his shoulders slightly. He wasn't too used to not wearing his outer haori, it was a lot heavier than the white one he wore underneath, and it being off sort of made him feel undressed. Well, he _was_ in an incomplete outfit, but that was fine. Aside from all of that, he never got sick, so she had a greater need of proper attire and warmth anyway. This was an investment decision after all, he didn't care about her well being... ... He really didn't...

"Um," she stuttered with several other unintelligible sounds, fingers flexing uncertainly over the garment. He was only slightly amused at how she kept staring wide-eyed at what he wore underneath the haori, then looking away and back. "Thanks, but I... I don't want it. You can have it back."

"You _will _be sick if you do not stay warm," he informed her nonchalantly. What was her brilliantly horrid mind working on now?

"I know," she replied, pink flushes forming in her pale face for some odd reason. "But I feel sick already. I don't want to be a burden."

"To be a burden would be to give back what someone has given," he informed her, watching her shift her feet. It was not very often he extended such generosity; only Rin had received as much as Kagome now did. Besides, taking off the haori was _far_ easier than getting it back on.

"Fine," she replied, letting the heavy material slide down her shoulders and shivering for the cold air, "then I'll be a burden."

"You will not."

She balked at his reply. "Y-yes? I will if I say I will. So here, have it back."

This was getting annoying. "Just wear it until you are dry. At that time I will be _expecting_ it back in my possession."

"Listen," she began with a huff, the collar now resting bunched up around the small of her back and over her forearms as she held them around her middle, "the very thought of you being generous towards me is literally stomach churning, so I'd rather be sick from disease than from worry and confusion and feeling like you're going to kill me very soon over something I couldn't foresee."

"Wear it or suffer through something even more embarrassing," he replied, nearly growling at her ridiculous antics. She was being paranoid now, not afraid in the least though.

"Like hell," was her answer, moving to take it off without letting the red decorated hem be dirtied on the ground. She froze though when he was instantly in front of her, and he easily maneuvered her chilled arms into the warm cavities of the sleeves before folding the front closed. By that time she had realized what he'd done, and grabbed the folds to yank it off. "Sesshy, this isn't funny!"

"It indeed is not," he replied. Tenseiga had clattered to the floor from where it had been propped against the wall, and was off vibrating in slow circles of mirth over what it was seeing, which irked him even more.

"I don't want to wear this."

"But you will."

"But I _won't_!" she yelled, now trying to draw her arms out from the sleeves to squirm through the bottom of the garment. Sesshomaru was, to say the least, fed up.

"About time," the miko grumbled when he released her. She opened the front yet again to shrug out of it, and froze when he easily cut whatever she was wearing underneath his haori into unusable palm sized pieces. He turned around, smiling at the humor which only he got out of this, and heard the wet clothes gradually peel off and plop to the ground.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!" she shrieked, obviously clutching the haori around herself now as more drenched fabric fell. "How DARE you!! What the hell do you think you're -GAH!!" she screamed when he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off her feet. "**LET** ME **GO**!!"

"Not likely," he informed, walking up the steps from the well and off to where he had chosen to sit for the evening, holding her tucked under an arm like she was a piece of luggage. The only difference was that luggage didn't squirm.

"This is embarrassing!!" she protested, kicking and grappling with his arm as though it would do all the good in the world. She even started to yank a lock of his hair, which only stung a little...

"You had your warning," he informed her. She was as easy to handle as a rag doll, and in a mere five seconds she was frozen with shock and humiliation when he had a seat and made her sit next to him. He could hear her heart galloping in her chest, let alone feel it. His left arm was behind her back so as to hook around and hold her firmly swaddled in fabric. The last thing he wanted to risk was having to chase a nude little miko around the shrine. Perhaps at that point he'd have to imprison her in that well until she either activated it or perished...

"Let me go..." she 'requested' firmly, trying to push herself up with already worn out arms. They had been sparing for about three hours, so that explained things such as her temper and how hard she was panting over a short struggle session, which she promptly continued against his forearm on her left side. He rolled his eyes, tired of this, and easily moved her onto his lap where he had the advantage of two hands instead of one and could more easily train her... It was odd to think that she had let off that scent for him and yet did nothing about it. "I said 'let me go' Sesshomaru!" she screamed in his ears, trying so hard to pry at his grip that even her legs flexed where they were draped to the side. When that didn't work, she boldly struck his chest and tried to break his nose, which was easily avoided.

With a resigned sigh he turned her to face away from him and wrapped one arm around her upper waist and the other across her chest to make her lay back. Doing this had her not only pinned but completely secured in the haori as well, and she was glaring.

The miko was less than warm, he realized, when her back hit his chest and their temperatures slowly mingled, but that was barely registered when she began to pinch his wrist. "Do not annoy this Sesshomaru, little miko," he said near her ear. "You will be free to go when you regain a normal body temperature and will not fall ill."

She was obviously scowling, but she wouldn't turn her head to share it. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Perhaps," he said, hoping her talking would distract her from her bludgeoning. She, on the other hand, was utterly unnerved, and that proved to be a little funny.

"Oh goodie, I'll take that as a 'no'…" She took in a deep breath, and tried to shatter his eardrums with her next scream. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!"

...

If that didn't confuse and/or piss him off enough, she began drumming her heels into his shins and hitting the back of her head against his shoulder, though probably aiming for his nose again.

"You think this will do you any good?" he asked, his patience more affected by this than his body was. Really, of all the things to scream, rape? Perhaps she risked that amongst other humans or with lowly demons, but certainly not him.

"It's doing ME some good!" she yelled. "HELP!! I'M BEING HUGGED BY AN ASSASSIN!! SOMEONE PRY ME FROM THE GRIP OF **DEATH**!!"

Hugged by an...

He couldn't help it. He simply couldn't. Sesshomaru began laughing.

The miko's attacks continued, but slowly decreased to a dull thumping as she turned around with a look of horror riddled into her face. "You're laughing! WHY!!"

He shook his head with a shrug, still chuckling. Seeing that expression on her made things all the more hilarious.

"You're being scary!" she yelled, now actually _more_ desperate to get away.

"Laughter scares you?" he inquired, trying very hard to calm his diaphragm.

"Coming from a frigged man who only finds joy in the torment of others, YES!" she cried.

He calmed a bit, but couldn't erase the smile.

She was glowering at him still, but the corners of her mouth soon quirked up. "You..." She shook her head and huffed, which was about all she could do with her torso pinned by him. He imagined that she would be slamming a fist into his chest otherwise. "You enjoy this. Don't try to deny it."

"Then I will not," he replied. ... Damn, she stole his bad mood.

She frowned, and tilted her head up and towards his to study him. "... You've changed."

He blinked at her.

"What? You **have**..." she supported herself, looking straight ahead now. "Not that I'm complaining... I mean, it's good to see you laughing instead of being completely unimpressed with anything and everything you see. Besides, if you were your old self still, I'd not want to be in the same _building_ as you let alone here in your l..." Her sinewy neck almost got displaced with how quickly she looked back at him. "... Sesshomaru, I'm still in your lap."

"That is quite evident," he replied.

"... And I'm still alive..."

"That is also obvious," he answered, smirking over what she was getting at.

"Those two don't add up..."

He replied in the only appropriate way. He shrugged. "Some things in life do not make sense."

She was the one left blinking this time. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then frowned. "You're annoying."

"**I'm** annoying?"

"YES you're annoying!" she attacked. "How DARE you come here as a regal son of a bitch and then change into THIS!"

He was starting to wonder if the secret tally of wins was determined by how many times you could either shock or confuse your opponent. If so, the miko was winning...

"In other words, you do prefer to see me as a cold blooded killer?" he asked coolly, shifting his 'assassin' hands to see how tormented that would make her. He still had an arm across her waist and one over her chest.

Her bodily balk was simply divine.

"Of course not," she replied, shifting her dirty little feet between his ankles and pretending to feel normal. "It's just nice to see that you've grown up..."

...

She giggled at him when he growled under his breath.

"Now now, don't throw a hissy-fit. Hissing's for cats." She smiled up at his less than pleased expression. Perhaps killing her would be pleasurable...

"Hey," she interrupted his thought process harshly, "if anyone should be growling, it should be **me**. It's not like I asked to be touched let alone held."

He glared ever so slightly down at her.

She pouted angrily up at him. "Oh, just stop it."

His scowl deepened, and he didn't know _how_ it happened, but he suddenly shook his head with a grunt and wiggled his stinging nose, because she just flicked it.

"You're being bad," she lectured him, now striking the offending finger towards his face with a harsh expression. "If you're good, then so am I. Got that?"

That was it...

Her eyes widened when he forsook holding the haori shut for grabbing that wretched hand and pushing it towards her back, making her torso twist so she leaned away towards his left and her legs slid to his right. Her chest heaved with breath, but he'd be damned if she was scared of him… There was not spiking sweet smell of fear, not irregular breathing, not even her eyes shifted. She just stared.

"Yes?" she asked him, more calm than himself. Damn that miko... Damn her for not giving him the satisfaction he sought. She just sat there, staring back at him like she were a pond of night water. He could throw insults like stones, but learned that nothing could be stirred up in her until he lost all sanity and jumped in to stir up the mud, getting himself wet and dirty in the process... But no, her eyes didn't even blink over this position. They just stared back as though he were looking down on the surface of that damnable pool, and he could see his reflection. He didn't see the sparks of anger in his eyes, but a thoughtful and captivated look.

Then she blinked, and so did he.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," she stated, confusing him as only she could. She sighed over his silence. "So, are you finally going to kill me and get it over with, or are you going to watch me turn into an old debilitated woman?"

"Neither," he answered, watching her brow dent ever so delicately. Nope, neither sounded like a good enough punishment for flicking him in the face. Taking her life was too easy and it was too soon, and why on earth would he want to watch _that_? No, she should be as shocked and affronted as he was, and just for kicks there should be come mental drama with it...

"Maybe I'll take a nap while you decide," she concluded, looking rather bored.

"So confident to not be scathed?" he inquired, irked by her casual mannerism.

"Well, if you were going to do something," she stated slowly, weighing her words, "you would have done it by now."

... He didn't have anything to say to that one...

"Besides," she continued, "believe it or not, I have a feeling that you won't hurt me..."

"Really?" he asked, half tempted to do so now.

"I'm not saying you can't," she added quickly. "Thinking like that is what gets people killed. I just trust that you won't."

No, little miko, trusting your enemies is what gets people killed... "Do not test your fate."

Considering how insane this woman was, it really shouldn't have surprised him that she began to giggle. He waited for her to stop, watching as she shook. The miko had to put her free hand behind herself since her abdominal muscles were weakening.

"Oh, kami..." she sighed. "I'll bet you've never heard the phrase 'my fate is in your hands,' right?"

"Why would anyone say such a ridiculous thing?" he asked, actually baffled.

She shrugged. "Some things in life do not make sense." With a smirk over flipping his own words back at him, the miko's blue eyes darkened as her lashes lowered by a fraction and she yawned.

She yawned... Oye. He'd apparently have to be scary some other time.

There was a few minutes of silence, during which she crawled out of his lap and sat against the wall next to him. Her knees were drawn up in front of her so the haori could wrap around her legs.

"I bet it's four right now..." she commented, cocking her head slightly where it rested on her knees to listen to the thundering rain. "I mean, it was a little past three when it started to rain, wasn't it?"

Her guess was far off, and he just realized that she had stolen yet another fine bad mood from him. "The night is only half over."

"Oh, goodie," she replied dully. "Well, it doesn't seem like the weather will lighten up, so I'm going to go ahead and sleep in the corner or something."

A corner? She unfolded her arms from around her legs and placed her palms on the floor, and his hand moved the three inches to cover hers. He couldn't tell which of them was more shocked, but he played through it.

"You do not seem tired," he commented, taking his hand away.

She stared at him, definitely not sleepy now. "... Want to chat?"

And so they chatted. For over an hour. Kagome apparently had plenty of pent up questions for when the conversation got dull, such as on demon customs, his close and extended family, why he tolerates Jaken, the list went on.

"So seriously," she began when the last conversation came to a natural halt, securing his haori over her nude self with her arms around her legs again, "are you as popular with the ladies as you so egotistically claimed a few days ago?"

He smirked. This woman was far from bashful, which was a nice change in the history of his social life. "As I honestly stated," he corrected.

"I see," she replied, a small smirk on her face. "You know, nowadays they say that any number of women a man claims to have bedded you're suppose to cut it in half."

"A human thing," he assured. "And in regards to women?"

"Double it," the miko replied. "It's amazing how that works, but it makes sense. Oh! I read this brilliant thing online, and it said 'women want one man who can satisfy all of their needs, and men want all women to satisfy their one need.' How brilliant is _that_?"

"Not very," he replied, now wearing a small frown. "Why would any man want that many possessive females at his throat?"

"Well, you live a lot longer, so there's that part," Kagome supplied, lifting a finger. "Also, most men have no sexual control. I don't know how it is for demons, but I expect it's better." Another finger went up. "Also, some women are real sluts... Like, second date lays, so that makes it easy for horny men who will dump their dumb asses the morning after, or when they get boring." A third finger went up. "... There are too many reasons, and all of them point out how dumb humans can be." She shrugged, then caught his gaze. "So, do you have any kids?"

"Hm," he chuckled, shaking his head. "No. That will not happen for a while."

She frowned. "But you just said that you've had ample of sex in your life."

"Not within my species, no," he replied. "Conception is impossible outside of the species. You will not see many half-dog-half-bird demons around."

"I bet she was a fun one," Kagome commented with a smirk.

"It was an example," he replied, looking away. "And they squawk too much..." She giggled. "What happened to this topic being disgusting?"

Kagome blinked, memory trying to loop back around in her head. "Oh! Yeah, that, before the movie. I just wasn't in the mood to talk about... such a thing. Besides, you were acting funny."

"_I_ was acting funny?" he asked, a bit surprised.

She blushed furiously. "I said I was sorry, won't you drop that issue?"

"It if is an issue, then certainly it should be discussed until resolved," he replied, twisting her meaning on purpose.

"It's just embarrassing. I don't act like that every day, I was _really_ put on the spot."

"And it was entertaining."

She glared at him. "I knew it. You sadistic ass."

"You were the one to go declaring titles and digging nails into hands, miko."

"And you are a _horrible_ actor, Sesshy. I'm never picking you to play a sticky-position role ever again."

"So you lied then?" he asked, egging her on to admit it.

"Of course I did," she replied, "it was for the sake of my sanity, and me being sane means your life is easier, so consider it a mercy blow. Besides, you know I lied. Like I'd ever want you for a boyfriend."

Ah yes, back to that interesting subject.

"You'd be admired for good instincts at the very least," he told her, enjoying her flabbergasted expression.

"That is _the_ most self-righteous thing I have ever heard come from your mouth," she accused.

"One is not made self-righteous by declaring the truth," he replied, smirking faintly. "And being mistaken for a god is not uncommon in my history."

"Gawd," she sighed with a chuckle. "You're ego's in the clouds, Sesshy. It's going to get sucked through a turbine engine sometime."

"A what?"

He was then informed on airplanes, and by the time their conversation began to slack again the birds began to wake up and beacon for the sun to tint the sky.

"_Now_ you appear tired," Sesshomaru commented, seeing the miko's head slowly crank to one side, jerk upright, then to the other as her chin lay on her knees. She was nodding off.

"_Now_ you appear observant," she retorted drowsily, making him chuckle. She gave a mighty yawn, and her tired mind came up with something random. "That dragon demon you fought before we went through the well... Was it related to Ryūkotsusei?"

The demon Sesshomaru's father had bound to the cliff with a claw before his untimely death... The old Lord of the Eastern Lands. "Yes. He was."

"M... I was thinking as much. Not too many dragon demons in Japan..." Sesshomaru looked down at her when her speech slowly began to slur, and saw she was keeping her eyes closed. "Why didn't you kill Ryūkotsusei?"

That was a loaded question. Truly, it was because Ryūkotsusei was suppose to serve as a threatening warning to other lords and lowly demons. He was the only demon of the swarm he led to survive a fight with Sesshomaru's father, and it was an intentional end. Bashamon was wise to remain behind, for the Eastern Lands were his birth right once his older brother died.

"This Sesshomaru would neither kill someone in their sleep, nor undo a great man's work." In fact, Sesshomaru use to visit Ryūkotsusei's resting place regularly to assure his continued imprisonment, examining the seal for any weaknesses. There never were any.

"M," she replied sleepily, her head now comfortably leaned to the right so she faced away from him. "He was hard to beat, even without a Jewel shard..."

"The seal had weakened Ryūkotsusei considerably," Sesshomaru informed. Like hell if Inuyasha could ever defeat that demon lord in full form at full power, even Sesshomaru had trouble with the younger brother of the dragons.

"M-hm," she agreed, ending it there.

Sesshomaru was unpleasantly reminded of the note in his hand writing, and the conclusion he had reached not too long ago. Apparently, when they found the Jewel he would be able to go back to his own time. ... Why he still bothered with the miko and wasn't on a frantic search yet was beyond him. He'd start tomorrow. Knowing his luck it would be sealed in an active shrine somewhere amongst buildings like that library, so the miko would be dead by the time he found that blasted excuse for a-

"Mn!" Kagome squeaked lazily when she fell on him in her sleep. She jerked back up a fraction of an inch, then apparently feeling assured she exhaled and slumped back against him, far more than half asleep with that action.

Sesshomaru sat glued to the spot. This was odd. His heart had actually jumped for the sudden contact, and he was staring to his left to see her head cushioned against his shoulder.

This was very, very, very odd.

Her breathing was regulated, slow, and shallow. Her heart, though still calming from the mild shock of falling over, beat soft and steady. She was definitely asleep. Asleep and leaning against him.

"Great," he scoffed softly to the dark room as an unfamiliar feeling began to well up inside him. It was warm, and felt like something was settling into his skin from the inside.

He shifted, uncomfortable, and Kagome let out a deep breath. How dare she sound so content at the sacrifice of his own contentment... It was so like her!

...

Ten minutes passed, and despite how much he tried he couldn't be mad about this. And he _really_ wanted to be, too. Instead, that warm tickling sensation continued, but it was less prudent than before. It reminded him of how he felt when Rin came back to life for the first time in his arm.

The sky was a dark twilight, and the birds who survived his last slaughter were cheering for the light and flapping off to find food. It was time for him to begin the hunt.

He could have gotten up and let Kagome fall flat on her face. He could have left her laying in the well shrine. Hell, he could have even left her naked in the well shrine and taken back his haori. These thoughts were the ones cycling through his head when he bent a wrist back to turn the doorknob, and folding his palm back over her thigh as she sat in his arms he nudged the door open with a toe. She was a very sound sleeper...

Her bedroom was dully lit by the morning, the furniture still making the transition from gray to color.

"Mmmmmm... Where am I...?" she asked sleepily when her cheek fell from his chest to his arm, making little moans over being somewhat conscious.

"In your room," he supplied, settling her onto her bed.

"Mm," was her response, digging her face into her pillow when she realized it was there and sighing.

He stood there, watching. Her knees were drawn up towards her chest as she faced the wall. His haori was wrapped around her limbs too securely to free without waking her, so he left it.

Tenseiga was hopping on the ground when Sesshomaru tied his lower armor around his waist, seeming alarmed. He let the blade fret while he dressed. His sleeves were thinner and white, undecorated, but he wasn't there to impress anyone. Finally tying the sash in the fashion he preferred Sesshomaru pushed his pelt over his shoulder, feeling it automatically cling to him, and grabbed Tenseiga.

The sword zapped him and went clattering to the ground, where it lay under its master's glare.

"Do not test me," Sesshomaru growled, overwhelming the sword with his energy and tucking it behind his sash. He closed the door to the well shrine, and in one leap was past the grounds barrier and on his way.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys! I hope things don't seem like they're moving too quickly, because trust me, they won't be... :) Flame me all you want, because I feel like this chapter is odd in some ways but I can't put my finger on it... Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update sooner next time. :p Reviews please!

If anyone wants details on the litter which is to be born within a day I'll put them on my profile page!


	17. An Adventure

**A/N:** Alright, next chapter! That was quick, ne? Enjoy it, because I know I did!

:D

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**An Adventure**

The damn miko had stolen his sanity…

Yes, she did, because she was insane and the only thing he could think about for the last three hours was her…

He heard a slight tap over the roar of the airplane engines, which were hiding below the stiff wing he stood on, and glancing up he saw a little girl wave eagerly at him through a small window. She had a few teeth missing, and for a split second he thought he saw Rin.

No longer able to tolerate the lack of oxygen, Sesshomaru decided that his ego would indeed not be sucked up by such an instrument and stopped resisting the wind force. He began to free-fall, aiming for a few thousand feet. It reminded him of his childhood. He use to love flying as high as he could before bottling up his youki and sailing for the ground, especially through a thunder storm. It was a good way to kill time while his father was gone and they weren't training.

The wind howled demandingly past his ears as he waited for trees to distinguish themselves below. It was better than listening to Tenseiga's bickering against his armor.

Sesshomaru had made a lap through his terrain of old already, the sun just beginning to fall from its peak, and made a couple of discoveries. The first was that Tokyo, the name of the city Kagome lived in, was actually in the Eastern Lands, meaning that the well changed place as well as time.

The second was that no one had ruled any of the lands for years. At least a few hundred. It confused him, but he would find out the reasons behind that soon enough, for he was on his way to visit his mother. The levitating o-shiro his mother ruled in his stead, his home and place of rule, was no longer in the Western Lands, but he located it. It no longer levitated either. If it did, he would have sensed it immediately, no matter the distance. Instead, he had to rely on his instincts to find the place, and he didn't like what he was sensing.

Ending his fall by gather his energy into his pelt, Sesshomaru flew in a seated position for Mount Fuji with Tenseiga shaking the entire way. He was rather shocked to not have recognized the Eastern trademark volcano, which was snowcapped now with Tokyo at its feet. No matter though, nothing bad came from his slip.

Feeling himself draw closer, Sesshomaru descended to the side of the top. The barrier, though weakened, made the location invisible and seeming impossible to enter. Gritting his teeth at the o-shiro's foggy barrier as he passed through it, Tenseiga was zapping through Sesshomaru's armor, bidding him not to enter. He frowned when energies crackled around his person and tore at his clothes, not liking what that meant, and when he passed the cloudy shield he was free to land in the vast court.

He didn't know quite what to expect, really… Perhaps the o-shiro was abandoned. Maybe infested with lowly demons, or the next few generations of remaining servants. Even the possibility of the o-shiro still running like normal and him having to face his annoying mother was there.

Instead, he found an open tomb.

Tenseiga finally stilled as Sesshomaru's anger flared with every aspect his senses absorbed. There were skeletons littering the place, most with armor and some not. Roofs had large holes and stone shingles rested askew wherever they stopped sliding. Some buildings had been scorched, one in particular, and others had whole portions missing. The courtyard slabs under his feet were cracked by time and the landing impact, some completely lifted from the ground and thrown onto more slabs.

Even abandoned, the o-shiro would not have looked like this...

Worn stones shifting and crunching under his feet as he walked through tree saplings and snow mounds, approaching the proper entrance stairs. He was the only thing to make noise in that place, not even nature's free moving life graced these grounds, and that made the unsettling cold lump in Sesshomaru's throat sink slowly to his stomach.

His mother's lounging throne was flipped onto its back, the broad and engraved circle laying comfortable on the floor as the solitary armrest pointed skyward. Walking past the snow decorated furniture, Sesshomaru saw arrows inserted into its bottom, meaning someone used that chair to hide behind and was shot at, and the slit of a once embedded blade remained in the upside flat. It was too thick to be a sword. Probably a battle ax or something similar to the size of a transformed Tetsusaiga.

Approaching the stairs in front of which the throne lay, Sesshomaru stopped at the top step and looked down. He found less soldiers than he expected, recognizing them as his own solely by their armor and weapons. The moon crest armor engravings of his clan still caught the light, and the double bladed halberds of the guards lay in disarray upon the ground with their wielders.

Examining a few bodies, Sesshomaru gathered that the enemy didn't enter as a normal enemy would. These arrows were embedded in the skeleton's backs and sides for those who turned towards the danger too late. This battle started with a surprise attack, and took out a good portion of Sesshomaru's men first thing. He saw no enemy bodies, which made it obvious who won. The victor always carries away their own for proper burial.

Sesshomaru's mind reeled with battle thoughts as he stepped out of the snow and entered the o-shiro, almost absentmindedly clutching his fists and registering valuable vases shattered on the ground. Even whole ones remained, which meant that the enemy was not there to loot, but to conquer.

Floor boards creaked beneath Sesshomaru's weight, creating the long moans of a building at rest. The closer Sesshomaru got to the council room the stronger the scent of long dead charcoal became. The sliding doors crumpled when he touched them, thicker wood clattering to the ground whereas thin strips of stained bamboo simply broke down. When the dust settled his eyes landed on destruction.

The browns and blacks of old blood marred the walls of the council room. That was the first thing to be registered. The great table which sat in the middle of the room was broken four times, and standing iron cast candle and incense holders were knocked to the ground. There was a struggle here, but no bones. There were four blood trails of bodies being dragged away, living or freshly dispatched. Apparently the victims were taken for beheading, no matter their mortal condition.

"What happened here?" he asked the undisturbed air, long dead scents remaining dead to him and rendering the air sterile. Not even ghosts replied.

Something collapse loudly in the silence, and Sesshomaru quickly spun with both Tenseiga and Bakusaiga in hand. His ears twitched, listening for the faintest of noise, and his eyes were dilated. After a few seconds he sheathed his blades, forcing himself to calm down while ignoring Tenseiga's hums. He didn't want to admit it, but to suddenly see his home, the place he was raised in, in such a condition made him scared.

It was a portion of roof which had fallen. Sesshomaru stared up at the hole, standing in the royal bedding quarters. This building was the one most destroyed by flame, missing a whole wall and some of the roof. It had begun to snow again, creating a calm which Sesshomaru was far from feeling. He knew this room, but didn't recognize the furniture, especially a rather small piece.

Kneeling next to the time abused wood, Sesshomaru reached over and pulled the mystery object upright. It rocked. Side to side. It was a cradle.

Instinct suddenly told him to leave the den before the mother returned with a vengeance, but he shook his head. Why was there a cradle? Perhaps his mother actually made the long trip to China to find a lord to mate and bring back to Japan? If so, then Sesshomaru was gone far longer than intended... Or maybe family decided to visit. He recalled his aunt had just given birth to the heir of the mainlands. But no, the firstborn heir wouldn't leave its lands unless it was expected to conquer new ones. Even Sesshomaru was a child when he was moved from his original home. It's unnatural to relocate an infant from its birthplace at such a young age.

So, why was there a cradle?

The time difference was too great, even with eternal winter, to preserve any scents. He couldn't tell who's infant had once occupied that cradle, but it was obvious that the child was indeed there. Come to think of it, the child was sought out by the enemy. There were too many female hip bones, eight if he counted right, from maids and nurses trying to fend off attackers for it to not be true, and considering the damage that child was suppose to be killed. The enemy was definitely there to conquer, and considering the o-shiro's resting place his mother had ordered for the entire o-shiro to flee long before the attack. What better place to hide than under your enemy's nose.

An unanswered question plagued Sesshomaru as he left the undisturbed tomb. Was he the reigning lord when this happened, meaning he returned to his time before Bashamon could find the place, or did he just never return? Was he stuck in the future, or an utter failure in protecting the past?

He didn't know. He couldn't know. Part of him didn't want to know. There were no clues as to when this vile onslaught occurred, but despite that fact he still felt the deep unwanted sorrow of loss. His mother had lived there, and he left his wards there before tumbling down the well. Did he lose them all? Would they already be dead when he returned?

...

"You're back," the miko commented, watching him stare from the steps at the Bone Eaters Well which still refused to function. Which was it? Could he return? Did he want to find the Jewel so that he could?

Shock suddenly settled in as a piece fell into place. He _had_ been back. He wrote himself that note...

"Sesshomaru?" came Kagome's voice, somewhat closer. "Are you okay?"

He looked at her, and her face softened with concern.

"Sesshomaru, what's wrong?"

She was worried for him. He didn't want to be worried for. She faltered in taking a step closer when he growled threateningly, but kept coming. Damn her lack of fear! Damn her!

"It's alright, Sesshomaru," she tried to assure him, now five feet away.

No. It wasn't. Nothing was alright. Everything was a disaster.

He turned, and yanked his arm when the miko grabbed his sleeve. She didn't let go.

"Release this Sesshomaru or die," he threatened in a gravely voice. He could kill a miko. It was in his nature to do so. In fact, he'd delight in killing her. Having flesh tear and give way beneath his claws would be a splendid sensation right about now. Yes. Splendid. Much better than feeling her slip her fingers into his right palm and lightly press her thumbs to his knuckles.

She stared up at him, refusing to be intimidated, and when he gave up on growling she rubbed her thumbs softly against the backs of his hands in tiny circles.

Why wasn't she dead yet...? He wanted to sigh, but didn't know what from.

"It's okay," she reassured, her worry now replaced with an odd consoling nature. It was calming, but he wasn't in the mood to be calm. Not in the least. Even his throat hitched, and his eyes stung, and he most likely took his leave so quickly that the miko was left blinking.

A day later, when the sun only had an hour left before resting, Kagome looked over the back of the couch to see him back.

"Good to see you," she greeted, smiling faintly and turning back around. "How've you been?"

He didn't answer. He didn't really feel like talking.

She apparently picked up on that. "Want to watch a movie?"

"The well, miko."

She looked back around, regarding him calmly. "Sesshomaru, I'm sorry. You know I can't." He glared at her, forcing his hands to unclench. "I've tried very hard and have been checking every day. I want it to work too. It just needs time."

"There is no time, miko," he replied.

She stared at him a moment, then turned off the television and stood. "Let's go see."

She tried. She tried for over an hour. By the time she lowered her hands she was panting and sweat was beading down her temples.

She looked at him, swallowing dryly, and shook her head. "It won't."

"Keep trying," he ordered.

"I can't!" she yelled, touching her temple for a sudden headache.

He knew she couldn't. She was spent. She had poured all of her energy into the well, and now she was rubbing her shoulder in which the seal was. Its being weakened caused her pain as the foul energy leaked into her, possibly tainting her skin a dull blue. He had wanted her to activate the well, but she did her best and was now suffering over it.

"Sesshomaru?" she asked when he pulled the neck of her shirt aside to glance at the wound. He was right on the color, but it covered a larger area than he had expected. She winced automatically when he put his palm over it, and let out a whimper when he guided his youki into her seal. Like his father, Sesshomaru was able to seal demon energy, but he never perfected it. If Kagome did not have a seal there already he probably would have messed it up. When he deemed the job done, and she wasn't convulsing on the ground, he took his hand away and looked again. Her skin was back to its normal healthy shade, which was marred by the scar. He rubbed a thumb over it curiously. Scar tissue was odd. Velvety yet bumpy like ocean waves, and darker than the surrounding skin. It was his first time ever feeling one. The bra strap was different too...

"Thanks," the miko muttered, giving him an uncertain look through heavy eyelashes with slightly flushed cheeks. He removed his hand and let the neckline, which was a tad stretched, fall back in place.

"Do not use all of your energy again tomorrow."

She nodded.

"Who'd have thought that the great Lord Sesshomaru loved ramen?" she asked no one in particular later that evening. Sesshomaru was on his seventh cup whereas she was still on her first. Not only was it good, but she had gotten a variety of flavors. He stuck to water as a beverage though. That flavored soda was not to his liking, and apparently neither hers.

"You know, your haori was in the bedroom too," she finally commented. He had gone in and seen as much when he rid himself of Tenseiga and any extra bulk for the evening.

"Noticeably so."

There was about a minute of silence, during which he ate and she picked at her food.

"So, the oddest thing happened to me two days ago."

"M?" he intoned, lifting the cup to drink the rest. Who needed to use manners in front of a miko from the future? Not him.

"I fell asleep talking to a certain demon in a shrine, and woke up in my room." She tapped her chopsticks against the side of her solitary serving, making it click against the plastic. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

"This Sesshomaru knows a great deal about that," he replied, watching as the ramen container settled nicely into the short stack he was creating. "Another."

She made a comment about sake and ramen under her breath, and putting in a certain amount of water she placed the food into the microwave and turned it on. "You're cooking the rest."

There was only one more, which he ate, and they finished the meal at the same time.

"I can't believe how much you and your brother can eat," the miko stated, adding her container to the pile just before he did so. "I can see the two of you putting some places out of business for a week."

Since Sesshomaru saw television as a phenomenal waste of anyone's time, Kagome decided to teach him a few games.

"I put my piece _where_?" he asked, staring at the card he drew. Kagome had taken the dog piece, and he got what she called a top hat.

"In jail," she supplied. "That square in the corner."

"And what is a jail?"

"Imprisonment, confinement, detainment, take your pick."

He looked at the board on which they had only been playing for seven minutes. "They want a _hat_ imprisoned?"

"Yes."

"This game is ridiculous."

"That's why it's fun," she replied. "Most people can't stand playing it for hours though..."

"And nor can demons," he replied, giving up. "What else is there to do?"

There was a lot to do, and he welcomed it because his mind was rendered to mush. All he had to think about was the miko and whatever she decided to talk about, which happened to be everything under the sun except for what he didn't want to think of. For once, he was grateful for her presence.

"Go fish."

"You lie," he stated.

"Do not!" she yelled, cards now held a tad more tightly in her hand.

He grabbed her wrist and looked at the cards, not finding the one he sought. Damn, he had kept fairly good count too.

"You cheat," she scoffed, dropping her playing hand.

He shrugged it off. He could feel that she was still gathering energy from her attempt at making the well function. He checked regularly, but she was a slow recoverer.

"Checkmate."

"YOU'RE the cheat!" Kagome yelled, pointing at him. "I swear, the pieces moved when I blinked!"

"I am not that fast," he replied with a smirk. "Take your defeat with a bit more grace."

"Oh, screw you," she scoffed, beginning to rearrange the chess pieces. "Best two out of three."

Not only was she a distraction, but she proved to be fun as well.

"Hey! We established not using our powers!" she yelled when Sesshomaru pinned her hand to the table as soon as she counted to one.

He gave her a flat look, which was hard to do. "Do you believe this Sesshomaru cannot defeat a young woman in physical strength?"

She flared her energy into her arm, something he hadn't shown her how to do yet, and raised their hands back to the beginning point. She had been trying to pin his.

"... Now you're just being sarcastic," she huffed when he still didn't use any energy and pinned her glowing hand again.

"You make it easy," he replied, now smirking. Alright, so she was fun, big deal...

"Damn you!!" she cried when he won a card memory game. Deep down he was laughing his ass off, but on the outside he just smiled at her antics. "Damn you and your annoying face to hell!!"

"Annoying face?" he inquired.

"Yes!"

"Ah. Good. Then superior intelligence and strength are not needed to ruin your day."

She glared at him from across the table. "I should kick your ass..."

"I would like to see you try," he challenged. He'd have fun fighting. Maybe she'd last three seconds in that game...

"YOU don't use your powers, and I'll consider it!" she yelled, crossing her arms.

He smirked just to piss her off.

She lunged at him from across the coffee table, and landed at the floor.

"I said no powers!" she yelled, a slight rug burn on her chin from the tatami mat.

"This Sesshomaru never agreed," he informed.

She lit up like a star in the room and leaped at him again, but he easily dodged by stepping into the hallway. She shot an impressive spiritual blast which he chose to not get involved with, and turned into the guest bedroom.

"You can't get away that easily!" she yelled, stepping into the darkened room to look for him. She screech when she spun and saw him against the wall next to the door, and leaped back further into the room.

"I would not associate the term 'get away' with this Sesshomaru," he told her, humored by how off guard she was. She simply glowed with energy, and she shifted.

She was faster than he expected from her mortal self, finally figuring out how to use her power in the manner of speed, and actually managed to get a hold on the two layers of clothing over his chest.

"You insufferable jerk!" she yelled, a ring of false anger reaching his ears. Her hands loosened, and he caught her wrists before her fingers found the sides of his chest. "Damn... I was about to win too..."

"With tickling?" he asked. "I think not."

"I think _so_," she countered, looking up at him. Her eyes were captivating when aflame like now, flashing with the light of her energy as it battled the surrounding darkness. He was forced to realize that hers was the only energy he could stand being near, because it caressed his own harmlessly if nothing else. It made him feel warm where only stagnation resided, and in a funny way he enjoyed it.

The faint smile that was on her face twitched slightly, then slowly settled into a neutral expression as time passed and they remained motionless. She bit her lower lip tenderly, not breaking their stare, and gradually that plaguing scent she had given off so many days ago wafted off of her and into the room.

He blinked. It was a little different this time. Richer. Riper. It made his heart skip to a fast start. He opened his mouth slightly to breathe it in and analyze it better. He could taste the sweetness on the air, and an odd flame ignited in his blood in response to it. It made his muscles clench, yet sapped his strength. He suddenly felt thirsty and swallowed, watching rather intensely as her lower lip emerged once more. He was too hot. This was uncomfortable, but he didn't want to move because doing so meant missing out on the feel of her own body heating near his. She was no longer a calm pool of water, she was a dancing flame imprisoned in a still body, only visible through her eyes.

Her breath billowed warmly against his neck, and she quickly produced another. His thumbs felt an overworking heart beat blood through her body, making her skin flush prettily in the dark, and he couldn't resist his demon nature. It unfolded from him with a raging calm and caressed her spiritual manifestation carefully, converting a small portion to youki in a savoring manner. It felt wonderful.

She shivered, lips parting with a small inhale, and Sesshomaru felt her hands slowly come to rest on his chest. They were warm, and he was definitely not listening to habit by allowing them to remain there. His own hands slowly felt the smooth skin of her forearms, traveling past small hairs which rose to greet his touch. He never felt so uncertain about touching a female before.

Her scent became stronger the closer his fingers came to her body. It was demanding and savory. Tempting. Promising. Alluring... He'd never sensed the likes of it before, and he registered through a partially clouded mind that her lips were still parted...

Her breath hitched when he brought his face closer to hers, studying her responses. She grew hot to the touch, which he enjoyed. Her scent was stronger the closer he was too, which he also liked. He then saw dark drops of night in her sapphire eyes when he loomed inches from her face.

Her hands were becoming restless against his chest, teasing the fabrics they lay over. A finger strayed over the collar of his clothing and touched his broiling skin.

Something snapped inside of him.

A few unregistered seconds later Sesshomaru slowly drew his lips away from hers. His hands were just above her elbows, holding her closer, and he loosened his grip and let her lean away from him.

Her rich eyes gradually blinked open. Then blinked again. And she suddenly stepped away from him with a slight gasp. She covered her mouth, far too late to prevent what had just happened, and looking between him and the door she quickly took her leave.

Sesshomaru stood there, absolutely shocked. He had never lost control like that, and he never knew that doing so would result in something so... intimate.

...

... Wait a second...

Intimate?? _Him_? With **her**?? What the- _who_ clarified _**that**_?!

His brain was broken, and he decided to sit it off. His head felt very comfortable being supported by his hands as he puzzled the last twenty seconds out on the bed. Let's see, there was that which he did not wish to think about, games, a challenge, crazy miko, glowing miko, them...

...

It **DID** happen... ... ... ... ... ... ... What the hell?

He spent most of the night unsettled. Sitting, standing, pacing, laying down, sitting again. Most of all, he thought. He thought a lot. It made his head hurt. He decided to leave.

And day and a half later, Sesshomaru came back to the shrine late. He decided to act as though nothing had happened, and also decided that such a decision was a good one which he could live by. When he had established as much after a good two hours of watching freeway traffic from a tree, Sesshomaru resumed his search for the Jewel to busy himself. He still couldn't find any clues as to where the Jewel was. How Kagome had been able to find so many tiny shards of it was beyond him, but he had returned to find out. Once he had the answer, he was leaving again.

The moon was gone that night, marking his first month of being trapped in the future, and the sun was still tinting the sky. Everything in the house was quiet, so Sesshomaru followed the scent of his little crux in life to get that answer.

"KYEAAAAH!!" the miko cried, covering herself when he opened the bathroom door. It was quite steamy in there. "You PERVERT!! Get OUT! I'm taking a bath here!"

"Quite evidently," he replied, not at all bothered by her lacking decency. "How do you detect the Shikon no Tama?"

Having sunk quite deeply into the bath water, her hair fanning out around herself, the miko glared at him for a few moments over the surface and then rose just enough to speak. "Get out, and I'll consider answering you in due time."

"Miko," he warned.

"Sesshy," she growled angrily.

He smirked, and crossed his arms. "Answer now, or suffer something far more embarrassing."

Her eyes widened, apparently recalling such a threat, and then narrowed. "I hate you..."

"You have five seconds."

"... I don't know the finer points of it. I sense it in the same way I sense demons, there's nothing more to it."

So in other words, she was clueless... "Have you activated the well yet?"

She rolled her eyes. "If I _did_, I wouldn't _be_ here. And I still don't have enough energy to go activating wells yet, it's only been a day since I last wasted any on you for whatever reason fathomable."

"That is ample time," he replied with a frown. Just how little did she know of her powers anyway? Well, they were rather nice despite her terminology on how she used them. He could still feel some of the small flames flickering amongst his own, remaining soothingly with him until his energy completely lapped it away.

"Oh, go to hell," she cursed at him. "Now would you mind granting me the respect of a little privacy? If you want a peep show then I assure you looking through the keyhole of the door is far better than making me mad."

"This Sesshomaru would not sneak for something sought."

"You're pretty up front about it?"

He let his silence do the talking.

"Well, then stop being up front right now and leave me alone."

He actually scoffed. "Do not fantasize over such things. It is bad for your health."

"**Fantasize**??" she asked, completely affronted. "I do nothing of the sort!"

"My apologies," he replied with a wry smile on his face, "then surely something else hinted at this Sesshomaru being even the least bit interested in you?"

She threw a spiritually imbued soap bar at him, missing quite impressively.

"Bad vision?"

"Too angry to aim," she supplied through a vexed tone, grabbing a shampoo bottle now. "Let's try that again..."

He watched when the bottle slowly fell from her hand.

"That was less than impressive."

"Shut UP!" she yelled, forgetting all sense of her quirky pride and standing out of the water to look out the tiny window.

She had a nice backside...

"Holy SHIT!!"

She quickly turned around, and hopping out of the bath she went running past him and into her room.

Her front wasn't half bad either...

"Don't just _stand_ there!!" she yelled five seconds later, a sweater over her as she hopped past the door to get her sweatpants on over her undergarments. "Don't you feel that!?"

He was surprised she didn't trip down the stairs in her haste, but she went running outside and looked off in the distance without falling over once.

Her degree of insanity deserved a proper title...

"Feel what, miko?" he asked, her sweater all wet in the back from her hair. His mind wandered onto the thought of what her bodily response would be to having the wet spot over her chest instead.

She stood there, staring with a frown, and then the earth vibrated. His attentions jerked to full alert and he stared off in the distance, but saw nothing.

"... What do you feel, miko?" he asked.

"It's here," she almost whispered with disbelief. "It's the Shikon no Tama."

* * *

**A/N:** Hah! Hahahahahahaha! CLIFFY!!

XD

Now _that_ chapter wrote itself! :D It makes me happy that it was so nice to do that, despite how eager it was to get a certain scene underway... ;)

Perhaps I'll update again within another short time frame, but that all depends.

Thanks for reading! Reviews please!


	18. The Battle

**A/N:** Hello everyone! I'm having a personal conniption now because Takahashi finished the Inuyasha series and it left me **QUITE** disappointed (and it strongly reminded me of some of the plot I had in mind so for anyone off to read it please don't think I stole it...), so if you get a 'pissed off writer'/'need more satisfaction' vibe, then that explains it.

**SPOILER RANT:** Those two dipshits didn't even _kiss_ for kami's sake!! -punches pillow- Sesshomaru was quite cute in it though, he got to glare for being called 'onii-saan' by Kagome (which sounded weird after writing all of this). **END OF SPOILER RANT.** (You were fairly warned)

So, just bear with me. This _will_ be a full blown KagomexSesshomaru story, but I'm going to be a little mean before that happens. :D I feel so evil...

Long Author's Note! Enjoy this chapter!!

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**Chapter 18**

**The Battle**

It's the Shikon no Tama.

Those words were running on loop in Sesshomaru's mind. Nice of that Jewel to deliver itself... What it was delivered _in_ though was still a bit of a mystery. He couldn't see it, and the wind wasn't in his favor, but he could certainly feel it. He remained calm, but for that last reason he had Bakusaiga gripped tightly in hand, ready to battle the beast.

Kagome, on the other hand, was busy staring between him and the distance, worry growing in her features.

Something went 'swish' about sixty feet away.

"Sesshomaru! Move!!"

He was half tempted to look at the crazy miko in a perplexed manner, but an air-splitting whistle suddenly reached his ears and he leaped away.

Too late.

The shrine's barrier shattered in a brilliant display as the whistling shot closer, and pain lanced through his mind when something grazed his left thigh and tore the pelt from his shoulder. His pelt, something every full fledged inugami is born with, had a connection with Sesshomaru, and right now that connection was giving him a splendid headache for how pained it was and how much energy it was drawing from him out of fear. Being stabbed twice more certainly didn't help things.

"It bleeds?!" the miko cried with disbelief, glancing at the sky before rushing over to it. Could she actually see the enemy?

She stared as the furry detachment writhed wildly against the ground and its bindings, and grabbing something above one of the gapping bloody holes she yanked up. Unsuccessful, she had to focus some energy into it and the thing became free and visible.

"Oh, god these are heavy," she commented, tossing it two feet away where it landed with a thud. She grabbed the second while Sesshomaru stared at what she removed, rubbing a temple as his energy flared nigh uncontrollably through him. When his pelt was stressed, so was his will over his youki. It was a diamond shard, glittering with the fading tints of the sky. That shard was the typical result of Tetsusaiga's kongōsōha.

And that didn't make sense... Inuyasha wasn't there.

"At least only three really hurt it," Kagome stated, watching as the blood seeped back into the wounds before beginning to heal. "I mean, of the fifteen here that's pretty good."

"Do you see the wielder?" Sesshomaru demanded, quickly reclaiming the pelt and allowing it to make a full recovery before it lashed out at the miko.

Kagome nodded, still shaken by the recent events. "It's that dr-" She startled and looked quickly off to the distance. She just barely erected a personal barrier before something grazed Sesshomaru's armor, startling him, and she was sent flying through the shards of her protection.

Sesshomaru's mind was racing. She was human. She was mortal. She was hit hard enough to puncture a brick wall. He shot after her and she landed limp in his grasp.

"Miko!" he yelled, watching blood bead up on her lip and from her nose to creep slowly down her face. The coppery scent didn't belong there... It made a knot in his chest. "Miko!!"

She didn't respond no matter how harshly he shook her, and another earth vibrating step made itself known along with the sound of more diamond shards. Sesshomaru cursed and jumped away from the threat, now on the other side of the shrine property with Kagome. Citizens were screaming and car alarms whistled across the streets, but it was her voice he listened to.

"Wha' time z'it?"

Sesshomaru regarded the woman who was still slumped back in his arms, causing the blood to trail towards her eyes. An eerily familiar roar shook the air.

"Miko," he tried again, forcing himself to be calm as he angled an arm under her head to make her look at him. There was another step, and the ground cracked and rose in jagged slabs when the shadow approached them.

"T's Kogame you dum-fuk..." was her eloquent reply. There was a thin trickle of blood coming from her ear, and her eyes were going in and out of focus. "We under water? I can't see right."

Sesshomaru was approximately one fifth of a second away from dispatching that thing into hell, but Kagome prevented that.

"The Jewel!" she suddenly screamed, sitting up so quickly she almost doubled herself over into a face plant.

"Where, miko?" he asked, pulling her back.

"Kagome!" she yelled her name, getting it right this time. "Its heart."

"Which heart!" Sesshomaru demanded. The enemy had two. He knew this well.

"Prick," she scoffed, losing consciousness. He was worried. She had some brain damage, but he couldn't tell how much. Perhaps a slight concussion? Perhaps she'd die? He didn't want to think about that.

"Good to see you again, Sesshomaru."

"Wish I could say the same," the old Lord of the Western Lands replied to his invisible foe, setting Kagome down and standing. He knew for sure who he was dealing with now. "Although, you would probably be a sorry sight after all this time, Bashamon."

The dragon lord growled low in his long throat.

Last time, Sesshomaru had been cocky.

This time, he was going to be deadly.

"Oh, I wouldn't be if not for you," the demon granted. "Who'd have seen the hell that was to come after our last battle."

"It was certainly a surprise," Sesshomaru replied, Bakusaiga in hand as he walked forward. His youki quickly enveloped him, the fur over his shoulder rustling in his ear over the released power. He was pissed, and his senses were working overtime to figure out just where Bashamon was.

"Mm, one you have yet to witness," grated the invisible demon. "Let's make sure it never happens!"

It lunged.

So did Sesshomaru.

There was a growl of mirth when Bakusaiga went slicing into an appendage, grinding easily through scales and shooting off energy to destroy the flesh of the foe, and Sesshomaru landed.

There were two thuds, and Sesshomaru looked back to see the clawed toe which Bashamon had severed himself. He severed it because the corrosion seeped through the skin and evaporated what remained. Soon it was gone.

"Do not begin to fathom that I would fall to the same fate as that pathetic hanyou minion of mine, Sesshomaru."

"Minion?" Sesshomaru couldn't help but to ask. Ah yes. The hanyou who infiltrated Sesshomaru's lands, and who even sought to absorb the demon lord.

"YOU already know enough!" Bashamon roared insanely, swinging his tail for Sesshomaru. He dodged the general shape which he couldn't see, flipping backwards over it so he could land a strike, but something embedded itself into his sword arm when he sliced down. His blade sunk into flesh, thankfully, but it was yanked from his weakened grip. There was a vague amount of poison. Not enough to even bring Sesshomaru to a sweat though, just to make certain tendons malfunction in his arm. He landed imperfectly, rolling to a kneeling position.

The sword clattered to the ground when the detached tail faded away, but Sesshomaru knew Bashamon would use the blade as bait. He moved Tenseiga to his right side so as to draw it in his left hand.

"That pathetic excuse for a sword can't harm me!" the dragon roared.

Sesshomaru smirked, licking the wound in his arm quickly. "How little knowledge to you possess, Bashamon?"

The dragon was silent.

"Well, no matter," he continued, twitching his fingers experimentally. That was a very weak poison. "If you lack the strength to even allow yourself to be visible, let alone powerful, then obviously knowledge would not be a priority in your life."

There was a sudden swell of holy power, and glancing up Sesshomaru watched an arrow come screaming straight into Bashamon's eye.

He thought Kagome was too dazed still to do such a thing... Actually, he also thought her aim was horrid.

"Damnable miko!!" Bashamon cried. "Not again!"

Again?

Slowly the spiritual residue covered Bashamon's face, revealing his whereabouts with a shimmering transparent layer like dusted glass, and it rained down to his forelegs.

Sesshomaru could see his foe, and said foe couldn't see him. He was blinded.

Sesshomaru frowned. Bashamon had two eyes the last time they met. But that didn't matter.

There was a gurgling roar when Sesshomaru split open Bashamon's throat with his acid whip, blue blood spilling forth from the still invisible neck. There was a lot, meaning Sesshomaru had hit an artery. Good.

Bashamon backed up, foot relieving itself of Bakusaiga, and Sesshomaru reclaimed the blade promptly.

An odd odor hit the air then, and looking up Sesshomaru saw something neon green come gushing from the dragon where the blood dripped down.

With a roar, Bashamon spat a flurry of flame for Sesshomaru.

'Damn!' he cursed to himself, leaping back as the ground was rendered to a molten blob. He needed to cut deeper to disable that attack, and now he had the blade to do it.

Sesshomaru's feet landed softly, and Bashamon immediately turned to the spot and spat flame.

For his size, Bashamon's hearing was rather good.

"What's the matter, Sesshomaru?" he demanded, licking his drooling chops and making a full circle, sending his tail to sweep down several stair railings and gardens. It collided with a particularly familiar tree though, and suddenly stopped and... Stayed?

"What is this?!" Bashamon yelled angrily, tail seized in the shield of the Tree of Ages, the three paper tassels glowing a rich yellow with the spell.

"A tree," Sesshomaru supplied, leaping at his foe. He wasn't expecting Bashamon to snap at him with his mouth like a cornered animal, but no matter... Sesshomaru sliced horizontally, severing the lord's tongue when the jaws came colliding shut harmlessly around him.

There was a light coming up the back of Bashamon's throat, and not wanting to die in the largest oven ever founded Sesshomaru made quick work of the lower jaw. Falling with the jaw amongst drops of liquid fire Sesshomaru landed, and dodged when Bashamon's whole head fell.

He never severed the head...

The dragon body wobbled, but remained upright. Sesshomaru stared at it, and was shocked when a new head burst out of the severed neck.

So, the Jewel was in Bashamon's chest.

"Ah, vision," Bashamon sighed, blinking crispy new eyes and shaking gloppy blue blood off his fresh scales. "It proves to be useful."

"Not helpful though," Sesshomaru informed his opponent. "Prepare to die."

"Not likely!" the aged demon roared, finally dislodging himself from the tree's barrier.

Sesshomaru became suspicious when Bashamon raised his right foreleg and beat at the air. A series of small diamonds came bulleting for Sesshomaru, tainted with jyaki and poison. He dodged all save for one, which grazed his right shoulder.

Sesshomaru landed, refusing to hold the burning wound. "Where did you learn that attack?"

"Doesn't it look familiar?" Bashamon asked, raising his claws again as they glowed red. "That was an impressive sword. Too bad your father's heirloom will end your life!"

Sesshomaru, recognizing the attack, knew fear. He sealed his youketsu, the source of all of his youki, before it was absorbed from himself, and leaped away from the swipe which would take his life if it landed.

"How ridiculously easy," Bashamon laughed, watching Sesshomaru dodge the paw at his lowest energy level. "Either way, you shall die Sesshomaru."

He drew Bakusaiga again, and Tetsusaiga pulsated.

It was calling out to him.

Sesshomaru was hesitant, fingers flexing uncertainly around Bakusaiga's hilt, but sheathed his sword for his father's.

"I have already told you," Bashamon roared. "Tenseiga has no power over me!"

Bashamon reared for a strong fire blast, and Sesshomaru saw it. A faint pink glow in the invisible body.

A wretched scream tore through Sesshomaru's ears when Tenseiga sliced open its foe, digging through scale and bone for the heart. Sesshomaru drew back from the slice, blood coating him as he stood in the wound, and plunged the sword and his arm into the cleavage of the gapping slice in Bashamon's chest. Tenseiga, the sword which couldn't cut, pierced the heart and touched the Jewel.

Sesshomaru winced when a bright light burst through the area, making the air shake.

There was a blast, vaporizing Bashamon and sending Sesshomaru flying. He rolled a few times before catching himself, the wind whipping his bangs out from his face as he stared blindly ahead.

There were a few seconds of silence, eyes now completely shot for nighttime vision after that flash, and some things clattered to the ground, one metallic sounding and the other a repeated click.. It was then that Sesshomaru realized that Tenseiga was missing from his grasp.

Walking to where he heard the items fall, tripping over a still embedded diamond shard and pitifully blinded by spots for the next few seconds, Sesshomaru felt the sword out with this toe and knelt, and his knee landed on a small round object.

It zapped him.

He ignored it, and seized his blade by the hilt.

It was different. In weight, scent, feel. Blinking, Sesshomaru saw it looked the same, but there was something new to it.

Recalling that he just defeated a demon with certain attacks, Sesshomaru watched as he concentrated. Diamond shards, thousands of them, decorated Tenseiga's blade. Tenseiga possessed all of Tetsusaiga's properties?

He stood, and facing the sky he prepared for an attack. "Wind Scar!!"

Three yellow claws of energy seared the night, and he stared.

Then there was a moan.

Sheathing Tenseiga and stepping towards Kagome, Sesshomaru stepped on something and looked down when it shocked his foot. It was the Shikon no Tama, swirling with a blackish purple aura.

He kicked it over to the house, and treating it like a ball he shot it up and through the open door with his toe. He'd let the cat play with it, if the cat was still there...

Kagome lay on her back, an arm across her abdomen and the other holding a bow. How she got it in her state he didn't know, and he never knew in the first place that she possessed a black one.

"Sesshy?" she asked when he picked her up. "Ugh... Put me down..."

"No."

"I'll throw up," she grumbled. "_All _over you."

"Then you will," he replied, walking inside with her.

"I'm tired..."

"Do not sleep yet," he requested, not wanting to risk her falling into a coma. He still needed her. He also disliked the idea of her falling asleep indefinitely.

"Why not?"

"You may not wake up."

"Giddy," she replied, completely out of it. "A nap."

"A very long one," he informed, now climbing the stairs.

"You worried?" she asked. She sounded drugged, and probably felt like it too.

"No," he replied, biting his tongue over feeling like he was lying. Was he worried? No, he wasn't. He refused to be. That was that.

Her bedroom was overrun by her scent. It was nice.

"My bed?" she asked as he sat her down, slowly reclining her to the pillow. That action felt so familiar and was so out of his nature that he felt like kicking himself. "Sleep?"

"No sleep," he told her, feeling good about her at least speaking. Perhaps it was just a head injury. "Keep talking to me."

"Bored?" she asked, yawning.

"No."

"I'm gunna sleep."

"No, you will not," he replied, searching his list of threats for the mentally deranged. It was rather short, so he put himself in her mindset. "If you do, then you shall be awoken with pinches."

She whimpered, turning her face and staring lazily at him as he knelt by the bed. One night. If she didn't fall into a coma after that, then she was fine. All he had to do was watch her.

Within five minutes he pinched her arm.

"'M awake!" she yelled, eyes shooting open.

"Were not," he scoffed at her. "How do you feel?"

"Pinched."

"Aside from that."

"My face hurts..."

Yeah, she sorta got hit there...

"My chest hurts."

"Your chest?"

"Mm," she replied, shifting as her eyes hid themselves behind heavy lashes again. "Peep and die..."

So she said... He easily lifted the hem of her sweatshirt though without complaints to see a healthy bruise the size of a splayed out hand over her sternum and along the underside of her right breast, ending with a scratch in her right side. It was jagged for following her ribcage.

"You will be fine," he told her, tearing the sleeve of his haori. He thought the scent of blood was from her faintly bruising face, not through a black sweatshirt.

"Giddy..."

"Wake up."

"I'm awake..."

"I will put cold water on you," he threatened, dabbing the cloth between the folds of bloody flesh.

She flinched violently. "I'M AWAKE, DAMMIT!!"

"Good," he replied, the cloth only drawing back with blood, the cut up fabric and dust from her shirt was still in the wound, and that just wouldn't do. "How awake?"

"Partially?" she asked, falling back down to the pillow after that start she gave.

... Partially was good enough.

"Sesshy?" she asked a second after he leaned over and began to lick around the wound. "Oh, gross... Stop..."

He didn't. He actually felt better about doing it with her not wanting him to. Once the drying blood was gone from the five inch slice he braced a hand on her collar bone to keep her still and started at one corner of the wound.

"STOP IT!!" she cried, trying to jump off the bed. He had to secure her abdomen too.

"That was too painful and disgusting to do me any good," she commented lazily when he pressed the fabric over the wound, fresh blood welling up already. Sesshomaru couldn't stop licking his lips.

Half an hour passed, one which was far more tedious than need be, and he lifted the cloth to check. It was healing over now. Good. He assumed as much would happen, but he didn't know if his saliva would work the same for her as it did for him. It wasn't suppose to.

The miko was worse for wear though.

"I'm so freakin tired, you sadistic ass!" she yelled, eyes darkening with the promise of bruises. She was returning to her old self, but he still didn't trust the irregular slur of her speech. Then again, maybe it had something to do with that cut lip, which he was now half tempted to 'heal'. Hey, he'd use the excuse if it was there. Besides, he didn't really remember the first time too well, but assumed it was pretty good.

"You look uncomfortable..." she stated a while later, looking exhausted.

"I am fine," he informed her, licking the far shallower wound in his arm clean again. That one was making the slowest recovery because of how deep it was, but he could move his hand properly again.

"Go to your bed," she practically ordered.

"No."

"Go," she pressed. "Let me sleep..."

"No sleeping."

"Ass."

"Defiant miko."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and he smirked with a chuckle.

Ten minutes later, when that number clock read 1:53 she turned to her opposite side and sighed contently to the wall.

"Miko," he warned.

"I'm awake," she replied routinely. "And it's Kagome."

She stared at the wall in silence, and he couldn't tell if she was asleep or not.

...

Well, since she preferred that side...

"Now what?" she asked when her back leaned towards the middle of the bed, a result of him getting onto it.

He lay on his side, her back inches from his chest, and tucking an arm under his head he wrapped the other around her and brought her closer. He could feel how conscious she was this way. She was too warm to be asleep, but colder than normal. Heating fast though. Her heart beat quickly, but that was probably because of his actions, and then she looked slowly over her shoulder at him.

"Sesshy?"

"It's Sesshomaru," he corrected for her.

She scowled faintly at him. "Get."

"Stay awake."

"This isn't a- ... What's that word..." She was left to think of it, but seemed to forget doing so when his right hand reached up and rested two fingers to her neck. "A bribe..."

"Indeed not," he agreed. He had a better feel of her pulse this way, but the position wasn't entirely displeasing either. Her heart simply danced against his wrist where it rested between her still developing breasts.

"You're a pervert," she informed him a few moments later, shifting. Her moving only made her nestle closer to him, so she stopped.

"I am merely keeping an eye on you," he told her, personally enjoying himself.

"I don't like it..."

"I do not care whether you do or not."

Her heel hit his shit rather softly, then just rested there.

"I'm so freakin tired..." she yawned. "I'll just think of this whole situation as a dream and leave it at that."

"You do not feel things in dreams, miko," he informed her.

"Let me pretend," she bit out, wriggling her shoulder blades spitefully against his chest.

He growled before he could stop himself.

She stiffened, and slowly looked back at him again. "... That wasn't an 'I'm pissed' growl..."

...

... ...

There was no good reply to that...

Her cerulean eyes blinked at him. Again. A third time for kicks. Then a brilliant flush spread across her pretty cheeks and she looked ready to pass out from a lack of air.

"Breathe, miko," he ordered.

She did, and began to try and pry his hand away from her neck. "I'll stay awake!! Just get out!!"

He smirked over how worried she was, and how weak she could be when she was worried. She was so cute that it was disgusting. "Settle down, Kagome."

She went stiff, then defied all the rules of logic and actually turned around in his grasp.

"You said it!!" she cried, wedging a hand in between their chests to jab at his. "You SAID it!!"

Said what?? ... ... Oh. "Your name?"

"Yes!!" she cried, looking quite... pleased. "I can't believe you stopped being an asshole just long enough to blurt it out!"

She wasn't pleased.

She was unbelievably ecstatic.

Her hand moved away from his chest, making erratic movements with its counterpart to find something to do, and when she finally gave an 'I give up' "Oh!" she darted them past his sides.

He balked, expecting her to begin that annoying tickling act, but she didn't.

Sesshomaru, demon Lord of the Western Lands, son of the Great Dog General, was being hugged...

He didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what to think. He wasn't thinking. She made his brain stop, and thusly killed him. Was he dead? ... No, his heart was galloping. Maybe this was what a heart attack felt like? His left side wasn't numb though. So... What was wrong? ... ... _Was_ something wrong?

"Um, sorry," she mumbled against his chest, shifting to reclaim her arms. She was letting go? Why? Damn her for making him indecisive!

Something deep down told him to stop. It was practically on its knees and begging. Completely and utterly ignoring it, Sesshomaru moved his arms around Kagome's waist and pulled her closer to himself.

Something went sparkling giddily in his mind, completely drowning the pleading voice. It was annoying, but not shun worthy.

"M," Kagome uttered shortly. It was something between a whimper and a moan. He didn't like it. She should choose one sound or the other and not leave him guessing.

Laying on his left side, he moved his right arm up her back, feeling _very_ uncertain this time about touching her, and resting his palm comfortably between the once offensive shoulder blades he held her. It was odd. He didn't want to let go.

"Sesshomaru...?" she asked against his chest, her arms still entwined around him. Her breath was hot against his neck, just like before.

Certainly, this sensation wasn't him wanting her... Even so, it would be a want for her body, not her. Right? ... Of course. It was decided. He didn't want _her_, per say, and that knowledge changed everything.

Her delicate fingers worried the back of his haori when his hand stroked the back of her neck, continuing up and through her hair. It was so soft... Maybe, if he continued, if he got his sudden curiosity over with, maybe he'd be fine with being near her once again without those thoughts racing through his head. Maybe, when he was away, she herself would stop racing through his head. Was it just his curiosity that tortured him? Did he see her as so utterly forbidden that she was tempting? He wanted to know her. He didn't want to hold back. Just one night. One night of knowing, and not merely _wondering_ how she would feel in his arms without clothes on. Of knowing if he could summon those bumps on her skin like the rain had. Knowing that he could persuade her to wrap her legs around his waist and cry out his name. That last thought he was _definitely_ curious about.

"Sesshomaru," she repeated herself, completely still as her heart raced to fill her pleasure expanded veins. "What are you doing?"

He stopped. Why? Why did she have to go and ask _that_?? Asking it like that just made it sound like she wasn't curious as well, and he knew she certainly was. That once subdued voice began chatter at him. She was a female, and would bear any consequences of his curiosity. She was fertilely responsive to him, something he never had to worry about before. Was curiosity worth a hanyou mistake? ... Then again, would it stay in the future with her? No, he couldn't think like that. He could never live without knowing his child. He'd have to see if it had gold or blue eyes...

...

He shook his head. What a ridiculous thought.

"Nothing," he finally answered, voice somewhat cracked for some reason beyond his comprehension.

"Okay," she replied. "Thanks..."

He stared dejectedly at the wall for over an hour, skin prickling all the while with every breath she took. She had long since fallen asleep, or passed out, rather, yet again finding comfort in his lack of it. His arms were still around her, enjoying her presence in one way if not in the other.

Her arm shifted in her sleep, still draped over his hip. She had finally let it rest there simply because nowhere else allowed blood circulation.

"Mmmm..."

Now _that_ was a moan. He glanced at her face, and found a silly grin there. She was crazy, and with a sigh he continued staring at his wall, twirling a lock of night around his finger. The hair fell from his casual grip when she moved her arm to his back and clutched him.

He was now glaring at the wall as his curiosity got a jump start on his logic. Damn this insufferable miko. Damn him too.

"Sessh..."

... She didn't... She couldn't... He didn't want to hear it... He really didn't...

He listened for her to say his entire name. Was she dreaming of him? What was she dreaming about?

Her grip tightened briefly, then loosened with a sigh.

He hated how good he suddenly felt. Even asleep she stole his good bad moods with remarkable ease.

He ran his claws through her hair, feeling how easily the strands parted at his touch. She hummed pleasantly at his attentions, nuzzling his chest and falling back into her dream with a sigh.

... This simply wasn't fair. What did fate have against him? Deciding to just relax for the torment, Sesshomaru sighed with her and rested himself. His senses were overrun by her. Her scent permeated the air as the feel of her in his arms was imprinting itself in his mind. He could hear the small moans which accented some breaths, and he watched her as she slept, lips barely parted as she sent curling waves of air to caress his chest. The only thing missing...

He smirked to himself, looking at it as a challenge. He wouldn't wake her, he knew he could get away with it.

Removing his arm ever so carefully from her back he eased it under her chin. Resting his thumb on one side and allowing his fingers to spread savoringly across her opposite cheek, Sesshomaru very slowly lifted her face up. She was still asleep. If she wasn't, she'd be staring straight into his eyes.

His heart was racing for some reason, and he tried to calm it. It wouldn't listen to him, so he had to just ignore it.

Carefully, Sesshomaru brought his lips to hers. Intentionally this time. He knew, this time, what he was doing. The kiss had to be just right. Not light enough to tickle, and not hard enough to hurt. Just enough pressure to make it enjoyable, and it was.

Her mouth shifted against his, and his eyes shot open to see hers still closed. He gently pulled away, and settled around her once more. She tasted like she smelled, which was simply herself, and every sensation of her was laced through his dreams that night.

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**A/N:** Ooh-la-la...

:D

Reviews please!


	19. A Dream And A Nightmare

**A/N:** Alright, in case someone wants to know what Limes or Lemons are, they mean you're entering what this site _may_ call Mature writing. ;D I simply couldn't resist. Here it goes!

**Important Note:** I am NOT going insane or getting 'too creative' with this beginning, because someone did this to me before so it's completely possible in my book!! It didn't go too far, but I swear men have a seventh _and_ eighth sense on how close women are...

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 19**

**A Dream And A Nightmare**

Sesshomaru opened his eyes, and found himself staring at the sun. It was a nice day out, and stretching across the grass he could sense that no one was around for miles.

Small, warm hands suddenly covered his eyes then as tender lips pressed his briefly, and slender yet muscular legs straddled over his waist. Growling with pleasure he gently grabbed the wrists and turned the hands open. There she was, smiling with the sun hitting her front. The same front he had fancied in a certain bathroom.

**(((Start of Lime))) **(Lime, thing, doesn't go too far, you'll see why... It's a Lime minus citrus!!)

She giggled, putting her hands on his unclad shoulders, and slowly she lowered her chest to his. He growled with approval this time as she moved closer, her hardened nipples brushing his skin and spreading that unfamiliar fire through his blood. Her rich blue eyes were partially covered by lust weighed lids as she shamelessly brought her lips to his, sighing harshly through her nose at the contact.

He growled with even greater approval, and shutting his own eyes to heighten his sense of touch he brought his hands onto her bare skin. She moaned in his mouth as he felt the expanse of her back, right middle finger following the spinal dip as he pulled her down, pressing her body firmly to his. He held the back of her neck and deftly dipped his tongue into her mouth, her own replying as she tilted her head and sealed their lips, her hands lost in his hair as her breasts drew identical patterns across his skin.

His right hand slide further up her warm body, and she didn't mind being slowly turned onto the grass. She held on to him as he leaned halfway over her, still kissing her deeply, her left breast finding its way into his palm. She sighed, arching herself into his grip, and one of her hands began to trace patterns across his abdomen, making his muscles flex from her touch. He kissed her smooth brow, her velvety eyes, and upon laying his lip to her right cheek he held her chin and licked her. She shivered in his grasp, and he buried his face into the slope of her neck, nibbling and sucking the skin as his hand moved from her face to her hip, his left still harmlessly grasping her neck. He was so hot, and he needed her. He wanted her very badly, and that need had him pushing her hips under his.

"Sesshomaru," she moaned, cut off by his attentions to her mouth. He growled her name in reply as their lips battled. For claiming to have never kissed before, she was indeed great at it. When he had her in place he buried his face into the side of her neck again.

She giggled, and jabbed his chest.

Sesshomaru, pulling back and propping up onto his left arm, opened his eyes to a very dressed and confused and blushing Kagome.

**(((End of Lime))) XD**

"Yes?" he replied dumbly, thinking for a moment that he was still dreaming. His chest still stung, and he noted his armor resting at the foot of the bed. If he had kept it on, that dream might have gotten better with a lack of poking... Holding back a yawn, he found that there was a funny but nice taste in his mouth, one he certainly didn't mind.

"Um," she began, not meeting his eyes for a second as she shifted uncomfortably on her back. Her lips looked somewhat swollen, which explained the taste. "I was getting uncomfortable with you nuzzling the hell out of my neck..."

He did his best to keep a straight face, the dream crashing wonderfully down onto reality. That was a good dream... Too short though. Why did she wake him up? It was about damn time he got some comfort at the sacrifice of her own! "Oh was I?" he asked defiantly.

She gave him a flat look, and pulled back her hair from her right side of her delectable looking neck... He wanted to nuzzle some more... "I can't bite myself, Sesshy." He blinked, and looked at her skin again. ... Dear kami, he had actually bitten her?

...

Kinky.

Shaking the profoundly misplaced though from his head he stared at the mark, seeing her slight scar about four inches down the sloping skin from it. His play mark was faint, and a bit more red between the teeth indents than a bite would incur, meaning Sesshomaru had quite a good time with a quite possibly petrified Kagome. If only he had awoken halfway through and kept his eyes closed... "You growl a lot, by the way."

She looked so embarrassed that he couldn't help but say it. "You were unsettled by a man in his sleep?"

Her whole face got red. "I was beginning to think you _weren't _**actually **asleep, you deaf pervert!"

He frowned. "Deaf?"

"Yes!" she bit out at him, all humility flung out the window. "No matter how many times I said your name you just _growled_ at me and got more bold!"

Somewhere, **deep **inside, he was giggling like a madman. He couldn't help that he enjoyed her saying his name... The only odd thing was how unraveled he must have become to do that to her. Wasn't he suppose to be a proper demon lord, and _not_ pinning after human mikos in his sleep?

... Wait, never mind. He wasn't pinning, that was below him...

Her smooth belly just felt nice under his right hand, that was all.

Sure, he could want her. Any healthy male would want an equally healthy female. He wasn't _pinning _though... He absolutely forbid it.

"And I **know** that you knew I was there!" she yelled, jabbing his chest again. "You growled my name! The second time you EVER say my name and it's doing- ... THAT!!"

... Oops... That was rather embarrassing...

"Oh," she continued. "And now that you're awake..."

He blinked when she suddenly slapped him in the face. It wasn't the hardest slap in the world, certainly not in his record which included demon-daddy's backhanded discipline, but hers hurt more than his face.

"My body is **not** a play thing, so **get away**!!"

He blinked again, and suddenly recalled his hand... ... Dammit! **Why** did she wake him up!!

"Did not enjoy yourself?" he asked sarcastically with a smirk, releasing her and getting off the bed. He actually felt quite good about the day already, if it had started... The sun wasn't up, and he always lost track of time if he woke up before it.

She scoffed. "Being felt up, nuzzled, and- and _kissed_ by someone in their _sleep_ is _not_ how every woman wants to wake up in the morning!"

Ah, so they _did_ kiss! Good. He didn't want to know that a simple peck on the mouth would linger with him until morning... And damn, if she wasn't a defiant one. "My apologies then," he offered, taking note of her swollen lips again and noticing the cut gone. That must have been a fairly good session. "Next time a man does so, try resorting to physical diversions before kissing him back."

She was simply boiling now, to the point that he couldn't tell if she was fatally humiliated or angered. ... Probably both. The good thing he was picking up was that she wasn't denying having kissed him back.

"You **arrogant** little **bitch**!" she cried as that savory scent reached him again. He bit back a growl. "Get **out** of my room! **Get out**!!"

He smirked, and she got up and began beating him with her spiritual pillow attack.

"Do not start fights you cannot win," he advised, reminding her of his strength as he held her wrists to her sides, speaking inches from her face.

The pillow dropped from her grasp.

She head butted him in the nose.

It was thusly that their morning started. Apparently Sesshomaru's intriguing dream had done wonders for the bruises on her face, seeing as there wasn't a single one in sight, and it had also done wonders on her sense of security because she was trying to avoid him again.

That's alright. He could handle being avoided...

"Your **tongue**!!" she randomly shrieked from the bathroom, obviously no longer able to keep the rants bottled in. She made being avoided quite entertaining... "**Why** did you use your _**tongue**_, you **sicko**!!"

He lowered the thin shiny book he was reading to stare dejectedly at nothing. _Why_ had he been asleep for that...? She spat, and began brushing her teeth for the fifth time. Alright, he was more humored than embarrassed now. Her innocence was quite fun to test. Besides, if she didn't like it, she should have bitten him.

Tenseiga beat then before he could return to the magazine, and looking down he saw the Jewel.

"What the hell do _you_ want?" she seethed around her toothbrush. Her anger was gloriously countered by the scent she was giving off, so he just smirked and nudged the Jewel into the bathroom with his toe. At this rate, he wouldn't be curious about her by the time the sun set again.

She stared at it for exactly ten seconds, then spat into the sink and knelt down before even rinsing. Her fingers went to touch it, and with a painful sounding electric snap she suddenly yanked them away and stuck them into her bubbly mouth.

...

"That's not suppose to happen," she commented, shocked.

"I know," he replied, now not knowing what to do with the Jewel. Tenseiga pulsed again, and he held the hilt to quiet it.

"Why did it reject me?" she asked, sounding rather hurt.

He rolled his shoulders, and she reached out again. This time with her left hand.

She gave a small squeak and spread those minty bubbles to her shoulder when she grasped it. "Owie..."

Ah... That's right... She was still infected. Naturally, an equally infected Jewel would simply seek her out as a hostess.

Sesshomaru, not wanting to watch a dumb animal suffer, drew Tenseiga and was ready to use it to roll the Jewel away. Blade touched sphere, and the Jewel sucked up and into the sword like a water droplet returning to the lake.

He was rather baffled by that, but Kagome, as per usual, took the cake in being shocking and confusing.

She screamed with sheer horror and lunged herself at him hard enough to send him staggering out of the bathroom, where Tenseiga remained, and to hit the wall. She must have collided rather painfully against his armor...

"... Miko?" he asked, her blue eyes wide with fear as she stared up at him.

"Don't," she muttered, tears coming, regrettably, to her eyes. "Don't do what he did! I can't take it!!"

When Sesshomaru deepen the furrow of his brow with confusion she lowered her head in a resigned manner between her hands, which were currently curled over the top of his armor, and wept.

"Do what who did?" he inquired. How dare someone make her cry other than himself? He was going to kill him!

"Idiot!" she yelled at him, the only part of her moving being her right fist as it slammed its side into his armor. "Ow! SIT!!"

There was silence...

She sobbed harder when that command didn't work on him, and he didn't know what to do. He vaguely wondered if there was any other poor sap of a man ever put in this situation, and lazily fell to instinct and put his arms around her.

Honestly, he didn't know why he did that. Maybe so she felt protected from something he couldn't see? Maybe to let her know he was there and if his hands were flat to her back then that meant he couldn't and wouldn't hurt her? Maybe she just felt good. He didn't know. But for whatever reason, his action made her cry all the harder. Damn. He didn't want her to cry. The smell of tears was as foreign on her as the coppery blood from last night.

The word 'sit' echoed in his mind, replaying from his memory a funny little scenario involving an idiot, and then he knew why she was in such a frenzy. Inuyasha had lost control and bitten her when the Shikon no Tama sank into Tetsusaiga, its jyaki overruling his hanyou body and mind, and now a month later she still suffered with what it did to her.

His pelt was twitching to wrap around her. If Sesshomaru could put words to what he felt from the remote appendage, it was asking to wrap around her, call her cute, and ask him if it could keep her. Damnable thing, he didn't _mate_ the female, it shouldn't be so excited over her.

As the tears continued he still didn't know what to say, so he just stood there against the wall and held her. She certainly didn't mind being 'hugged by an assassin' when it was in a comforting way.

... Comforting... Hm... He really _did_ lose his sanity in the last few days... He should check her pockets and take it back. He started wondering when his grip on himself actually began to loosen until she spoke.

"It's not fair!" she suddenly yelled, her narrow frame shaking and making her feel so small in his loose grasp. He felt sappy... "Why did I get shot back into my boring, wretched life with you and leave all of them behind!!"

Alright, she was fine, because she was being random and confusing him again and that was her quirky way of being absolutely normal. This was the first he had heard of her regretting being home... Then again, she had most nights to herself in her room, so maybe this _wasn't_ a first? He still didn't know what to do... He was annoyingly reminded of how she had tried to console him when he discovered his home in battle-ravished ruins, and how it made him leave her...

Hm...

Figuring it couldn't hurt, he tightened his grip and mimicked what she had said to him.

"It's alright, Kagome."

She stopped crying for a moment, then sniffled. "Stop pretending to be nice."

He chuckled, and she smacked his collar bone before pulling away and turning for the bathroom. She stopped to stare at Tenseiga, then looked at him.

"I bite in my sleep, not when awake, remember?"

She blushed, but nodded. "You know," she began hesitantly, exposing her neck by tucking her hair behind her ear. She may not have realized that that was a sign of interest, but it pleased him nonetheless. "It's only been a short while, since we came here. But..." He didn't know why his heart began to race as a small blush slowly surface to her cheeks. "And despite all the _weird_ stuff you do and how undeniably self-pleasing and egotistical you are, I think I'm beginning to-"

She stopped, now an intriguing shade of red. He knew what was on the tip of her tongue, it was written all over her. He just wanted to hear it.

"To trust you..."

She wasn't lying, but she smelled disappointed. In herself. And that was that. She reached down to grab Tenseiga for him, and when she proffered it he took hold of the hilt above her own hand.

He was in the mood to see how innocent she was feeling now...

Both of them let go when the sword pulsed violently, and Sesshomaru took off after it when it began flying away, doors opening automatically for it. Damnable blade! He ran outside and felt the house's barrier ripple harmlessly around him.

"Sesshomaru!" Kagome yelled, stopping. He glanced back to see her hand hitting the shield, but no matter. He'd be back. Tenseiga was never this active before, and he simply had to reclaim it.

The doors to the Bone Eater's Well slid ajar for the blade to make a beeline through them, and Sesshomaru grabbed the sides of the gap and yanked them apart to his arm span, scanning the area. Nothing was in plain sight, which meant...

He looked down the well, and the sword twirled merrily and disappeared.

It disappeared...

Sesshomaru jumped in after it.

There was a calming effect as he slowly began to cease falling, being supported by nothing more than black air. His clothes remained billowed and his hair upright though, so in a way he was still falling. It just didn't feel like it. Blue swirls were highlighting the darkness, and it reminded him of how that miko's hair fanned out around her in the rippling bath water.

His feet touched the dirt softly, and a dull 'shunk' had him glancing to his side. Tenseiga had landed with its tip in the ground. He grabbed the annoying sword and sheathed it, then stood.

There were birds...

Funny, he thought he'd killed them all.

Looking up, Sesshomaru saw that the well was covered for some odd reason. He had noticed odd hinges on it before, but they had been rusted and snapped.

Jumping up, he braced the sides of the well and pushed at the cover.

It didn't move.

He sighed. What was going on? Drawing Tenseiga once more, he put the sharpened blade to the split between the doors and let a small fray of energy slice whatever was there silently in half. Putting his sword away _again_, Sesshomaru eased a door open, and winced when a thud sounded in the silence.

"Did you hear that?" came a gruff voice. Sesshomaru slipped quickly out of the well, replaced the split wood which had held the well doors shut, and jumped onto a rafter before the barred shut shrine doors slid opened.

Two guards came walking in, and they wore unfamiliar armor which glistened in the rising sun. They had scales on the sides of their humanoid faces.

Bashamon's men.

Dammit...

Sesshomaru quickly unsheathed his poison whip, and as they looked up while flicking forked tongues he slit their throats. This wasn't good. Reptiles had as keen of sense as he, if not better, so the comrades of these dispatched men would smell the blood at any second.

Sesshomaru quickly jumped to the roof of the shrine, and for the second he was there he looked around. He saw that the only familiar thing was the shrine. The ledge around the well made sense now for patrol duties, but as to why Bashamon had built a shrine around the well was beyond him. ... Actually, maybe the shrine was already there... The well was not in the Western Lands anymore. Right over there, he could see the side of Mount Fuji which didn't favor his territory. He realized he was currently in the beginnings of Tokyo, which meant he was also _very_ deep in enemy territory. So, the well had been moved...? _That's_ why it didn't work?! How infuriating!!

... Then again, he couldn't have asked for more... Save for armed forces to entertain the small fry while he went to bludgeon Bashamon for a second time. With no army, it would be a repeat of what he had to face before So'unga, just with trained soldiers instead of dead ones... Too bad, he'd have to save infiltrating this city now for a less discreet fashion later.

Sesshomaru saw a glimmer from armor as another guard rounded a corner, his tongue flickering madly, and Sesshomaru bolted. Not good, not good, not good. Reptilian demons were a pain. Forget the time with So'unga, it would be like taking on an army of his _own_ men but have them covered in liquid metal and hype every sense they had. And they were fast. Much faster than they looked.

Sesshomaru's instincts told him to duck when he touched down on a roof, and a blade went slicing brightly overhead. There was a displeased hiss as the soldier went full circle and sliced down at Sesshomaru, who rolled back onto a palm and launched his feet into his foe's face, grabbing the sword which was eerily under his spine with his free hand. The reptilian guard clutched his overly sensitive nose and Sesshomaru quickly broke the lizard's neck before going on his way. He could have killed the man more easily, but he also didn't want a blood trail... He was quite surprised that was the only foe he encountered.

Even when the city was only big enough to appear the size of his thumbnail, the sun peeking over Mount Fuji just enough to bathe the budding city (well, budding in comparison to Tokyo), Sesshomaru _still_ didn't trust releasing his powers. He was at quite a distance, but he didn't want the whole fleet of lizards on his tail. Leaping further away, he vaguely wondered if Kagome would ever follow him? He hoped not. Not into that. At best she would be raped and sent to her death. Maybe she'd fry a few demons with her powers first, but a bad outcome was simply inevitable. After all, reptiles were both dumb and cold blooded. A human didn't stand a chance.

A shiver wracked through Sesshomaru's body at the thoughts. No. Let her stay in her time. At least until his own was resolved to his liking.

Sesshomaru came to a stop and stared at the north. That sense...

The sun was well into its zenith by the time Sesshomaru was done traveling on foot for the day. He had run to the horizon and climbed Mount Fuji. He looked up, face calm but feeling ecstatic inside. He'd found it.

"Ah, you've returned!"

Sesshomaru, having just stepped through the barrier of his home, leaped to the top of the steps to see his mother in her typical spot. The soldiers muttered intensively behind his back, wondering where he'd been, why he'd left two human children in the care of demons, what was to happen... Typical concerns for those who didn't think for themselves. He didn't mind their chatter though. He was still feeling relieved at the sight of his home. It was all intact, and nothing was in flames.

Rin went, in no exaggeration of the term, ballistic when she saw him standing outside with his mother.

"Lord Sesshomaru!!" she cried, running for him. He swore, the idea of latching to his hakama was running through her mind, but she respected him more than some other female he knew and forced herself to stand attentively and eagerly two feet away, swaying from heel to toe and back again.

He ruffled her brown hair, which was only slightly longer, and she giggled. It felt like ages since he'd seen her. She also wore nicer clothes than he had offered her while they were traveling, which he highly approved of. There were no mud puddles to draw patterns into satin here...

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Kohaku exclaimed, rounding the corner and finally catching up with the spitfire Sesshomaru had adopted. The boy was in traditional wear as well, and he bowed at the waist in greeting to Sesshomaru.

Then came Jaken, who was the slowest of the lot with his tiny legs. Sesshomaru had to allow the bottom of his shoe to stop the squat demon from embarrassing them both. The loyal nuisance had a great tendency of being overwhelmingly dramatic.

"Rin," Sesshomaru addressed her. "Go play with Jaken and Kohaku."

She didn't ask questions, but rather went on her way to obey him. When he was done watching them leave he allowed himself to be led by the tilt of a head.

"Where have you been, son?" his mother asked as they sat formally over tea to discuss. Sitting formally was oddly uncomfortable now...

"Intense training," he replied calmly. It wasn't a lie, he just didn't say he was the trainer... "Tenseiga has now surpassed Tetsusaiga."

"Oh?" she asked. "That little relic of your father's?"

He nodded, glancing about the room. He couldn't keep the images of old blood and charcoal from his mind.

"You must have been far away, son," she commented, almost nonchalantly. The glare over her cup gave away her cool appearance. "Even our extended family has heard of our plight."

He nodded again. He had been _very_ **inescapably** far away.

There was an analytical light in her eye, and he noticed her pointed ears twitch ever so minutely. She seemed to make a mental note on something, something she did a lot throughout his life, and he felt his emotions rein in even more strictly than before. It made him feel cold.

She blinked at him, then smirked. "You have changed, Sesshomaru."

He glared at her. "You stray from important matters, mother." He didn't want to talk about such a blatantly obvious thing, not in front of the biggest gossips royalty could afford. Although guards and servants didn't think for themselves too much, they certain spoke on their own accord as often as possible.

She conceded as much, and lowered her cup for a long discussion. It was indeed long... Apparently, if he had kept an accurate count, Bashamon had laid waste to the western lands within mere days of Sesshomaru's 'disappearance', claiming the terrain and even straying into the lands of the North and South, territories of the wolves and the birds. Bashamon had unified the land to call it the Central Domain, which brought back seemingly distant memories to Sesshomaru. He recalled himself being the only one able to read a particular scroll and demanding of an untrained miko that she drop the centuries old barrier which was around the house... He had been so eager to get back then, and it was the only thing he had thought about. Then she began treading on his thoughts...

"Do pay attention to your mother, son."

Sesshomaru regarded her. She sighed lightly and continued. His mother had ordered the o-shiro to flee the western lands, as he had expected, and they were currently on the top of Mount Fuji. If there was one thing their enemy couldn't stand, it was the cold, but inside of the barrier of the o-shiro there was a mild climate. Most likely, more energy had been sacrificed to make the atmosphere more suitable for the humans. Demons could not get sick, and were not made lethargic by cool climates, so there was never a need to regulate it.

They did not need to preserve the atmosphere any longer though.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked when he was finished with his mother and approached his adopted daughter. She was making a pink and green flower crown for Jaken, like she had the day Sesshomaru disappeared. It seemed like the only thing to change after so long was himself... It was odd. He had remained the same for hundreds of years, in appearance and attitude, while the world changed constantly around him. He was not use to the opposite...

"Rin, gather your things."

Ah-Un, to his great displeasure, took a bath as did Kohaku and Rin. They were not assisted, for the only attendants were inu youkai, and the children wore clothes which had not been unwrapped from their original paper packaging.

"Really, son," his mother sighed, watching Kohaku pack Ah-Un's saddle alone. "Are you not being just a _tad_ picky?"

"Not at all," he informed her. He was not going to let these children witness the attack upon this place, and he was definitely not going to send them into enemy territory smelling of inu youkai. Besides, they needed humans around them.

Ah-Un knelt to allow the children to mount, Kohaku climbing up first so he could assist Rin. She sat in front of him while he handled the reins.

"Kohaku."

The boy looked over at Sesshomaru, who addressed him from ten feet away. "Find your sister, and seek refuge with her until I say otherwise."

He nodded, looking a tad hesitant, and Ah-Un labored to his feet.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked again, looking sad. He didn't want her to be sad, so he offered a faint smile which she caught. She grinned, and waved goodbye as the dragon took off through the barrier. Ah-Un was indeed a detectable demon, but he was a reptile and would go unnoticed by the enemy. Or so Sesshomaru hoped.

His mother sighed in a bored fashion next to her son. "How sweet of you. And here I once thought you would eat them..."

His stomach churned. "Ridiculous."

"I know," she replied, looking up at him through her lashes. "You said that last time too."

A few days later Ah-Un returned alone, Sesshomaru seeing the beast merrily chewing on the garden vegetation as young maids tried to remove him as delicately as possible. They were failing miserably.

"You seem restless," his mother commented another few days later, watching him as she sat to the side of the main chair of the room on a cushion. "Have you been sleeping?"

"No," he answered flatly, pacing his study and personal meeting chamber. He was trying very hard to focus on what needed to be thought about, but some annoying blue eyes kept interrupting his thoughts.

"You'll surely wear a hole in the floor," she commented a few hours later as he still paced, enjoying another cup of tea. The soaked herbs were suppose to render a calming leftover fragrance, but Sesshomaru was far less than calm. "Have you stopped pacing at all today?"

"What day is it?" he asked.

"The eighth of the month," she supplied.

"Then no."

She sighed. "Son, would you _please_ sit down?"

He resigned himself with a huff to the padded chair she sat by, rapping his nails against the arm. A few minutes of that and she was asking him to resume his pacing for the sake of both her ears and her patience.

She finally left, bidding him a good night, and after a while he dismissed the guards and sat heavily again in the chair. He let out a long, weary sigh. He'd only been awake for eight days, yet he felt exhausted... Being in his prime as he was now, he should be able to last for nearly double that and have ample energy to spare, but right now...

He sighed again, and put his chin in a palm to stare at some random wall.

Sesshomaru had to admit, this was insanity at its finest. Here he was, a young lord newly returned to his throne and offered the great feat of reclaiming his lands and conquering more, and he was sitting. Here he was, on the brink of utter madness because he had seen what doom could easily befall the o-shiro, and he couldn't think.

He angrily scrubbed his claws through his hair. Maybe sleep would be good? But no, he couldn't. What would happen tomorrow? Would this place be found? They were unprepared, understaffed, and had minimal supplies, and he realized that he should have taken over immediately after his father's rule instead of allow his mother to run things... What was he to do? To mobilize forces which stayed hidden in his lands would mean to draw attention to their location before it was time. To move the castle would mean to be very easily noticed. To leave... That wasn't an option. He couldn't leave here again. The last time he departed his retainers were left to the instincts of a female, who probably ordered that they flee before even discussing it with the council. Jaken would have hated that...

So thusly, Sesshomaru had a taint on his reputation already, and he loathed the circumstances. Still, loathing would get him nowhere. He needed a plan, and he was certainly in no mood nor condition to make it...

He sighed, thinking he was being paranoid, and forced himself to relax. It took over an hour, but gradually his mind calmed enough to at least render him into a dysfunctional state of consciousness. Time passed. He couldn't tell the increments by which it did, but eventually his muddled senses flicked him when he heard the doors open. After a second he knew who it was, and didn't bother rousing himself let alone stirring.

"Ah, good," came his mother's faint voice, the doors slowly drawing closed again. "Stay here. The person to wake him is the one to die by sunrise."

He heard the rustle of the servant's clothes as they bowed wordlessly. He smirked at the thought of his mother realizing she had been the one to stroke his senses to awareness, but he easily brought himself back down to the state between awake and asleep, vaguely thinking of what to do and just as vaguely caring about it...

The doors slid open again, allowing someone through, and after their closing he heard bare little feet pad closer.

Blinking his eyes open he was rather surprised. "Miko?"

She scoffed, wearing one of her ridiculously short skirts and a thin shirt which was supported by only two thin straps. Both articles of clothing were white. "And here we made such progress," she commented, closing the gap and taking a seat to his left. The chair was definitely big enough for two.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked her, shamelessly wrapping an arm around her side as she relaxed against his suddenly unarmed self. No armor, no swords, the clothes remained though.

"Probably," she replied, grabbing the end of his pelt and wrapping it around her middle. It squeezed her happily and she nuzzled into his chest. "There's always the unbelievable thought of you thinking of me, which supports this being a dream in the first place. But, then again, I'm clothed this time, so I'll let you decide whether or not you're dreaming."

He smiled at her, content. "Alright. If you are here fully clothed, then what purpose are you serving?"

She smacked his chest. "I'm here to calm you down so you can think, you jackass."

"I do not require calming," he informed her.

"Yes you do," she replied. "Look at you. You're an absolute wreck, even your mother noticed it... And aside from that, you require clues."

"Clues?"

"M-hm," she answered, looking around. "... This place is _dull_."

"Do tell."

"I'm sure you already know all about it." She shifted herself to sit on his lap, and the scenery suddenly changed. They were in the well shrine, and it was raining.

"There, better?" she asked, now huddled in his haori.

"Not really," he replied.

She pouted at him. "_Fine_..." She remained in his lap, and looped her arms around her neck in a more-tight-than-necessary manner. "I hate this ride..."

They were sitting at the apex of the ferris wheel, and looking down he saw her dressed prettily in that dark blue kimono with the orange and white koi and yellow obi. He had untied that obi before...

"Get your head out of the gutter," she scolded, her face twisted with displeasure as she regarded him. That's right, she knew his thoughts if she was already in his head. "So, are you settled enough to tell me what the plan is?"

He sighed, and looking up he realized they weren't in the ferris wheel cage, but on top of it.

"Oh, you just _had_ to do that, didn't you?" she seethed, curling up tighter in his lap. At least now he could look at the stars. He admired them. They were flawless, brilliant, seen by everyone, touched by no one, and void of anything which altered perfection. His mother told him as a child to try and be a star.

"I do not know where to begin," he admitted, looking away. His thoughts still rather muddled.

She hummed. "Well, then start with the obvious."

"The obvious?" he asked.

She patted his chest, and they were standing in ruins. "Let's start here."

"I do not wish to be here," he told her.

She huffed at him, a hand propped stubbornly on the white skirt which hugged her hip. "Come on. This is all in your head, remember?" She grabbed his hand and pulled him to a start, her pace slowing to match his when he was willing to move. Despite walking side by side, she wouldn't let him go.

"Ew," she stated, seeing the bodies of his men at the entrance. "I vote we don't start here..."

She said the exact same thing when they entered the council room. "No wonder you don't want to be here."

He rolled his eyes. She could have just taken his word for it.

"Oh stop it, I'm going in chronological order here!" she yelled at him. "Come on. After this we can leave."

They went to the burnt building, and when they entered she resigned herself to a corner, allowing him to walk.

"Why here?" he asked.

She merely smiled at him, nodding to encourage him to have a look around.

He sighed, and stepping over a charred timber he continued. There was furniture and destruction.

"There's nothing here, Kagome," he told her, vexed.

She frowned at him. "You're looking too deep in your memory."

"Too deep?" he asked. Why was she talking in riddles.

"Something doesn't belong," she told him.

Yeah. It was a miko. But, he had a feeling something really didn't belong there.

She smiled, knowing what he thought. "Come on. The great future Lord of the Central Domain can surely find something amiss..."

He currently stood in the middle of the room, and making a slow circle he found nothing and held his hands palms up to her.

"You're hopeless," she giggled, walking over and hugging him. She laced her arms around his neck and sighed against his shoulder, the crown of her head resting under his jaw bone. "Keep thinking."

"There is nothing amiss," he told her, settling his hands around her waist. Something was different... Her belly was huge.

"Did you think of it yet?"

Sesshomaru jerked awake, alone and sitting on the throne, and he watched as the room he was in burned, bodies being mutilated in shadow show fashion against the rice paper of the walls. There was a baby wailing in the background, and he was scared.

"Wake **up**!"

A slight hand slapped his face, and Sesshomaru's eyes shot open. The room was bright, but not on fire, and his mother was staring disapprovingly at him.

"Dear _kami_, were you planning to disturb the whole o-shiro with that dreadful yell of yours!?"

"Is there a cradle here?" he asked her in a panic, swallowing to wet his dry throat.

She gave him quite the look. "I am not exactly expecting grandchildren yet, Sesshomaru..."

She was being useless, so he got up and walked quickly for the sleeping quarters.

"Sesshomaru, are you sleep walking?" she asked, trailing after him. She had to gather her kimono to keep up though.

No, he wasn't, but he felt like it. His mind was in a daze, recycling the dream. Yanking open the door to the particular room, nestled in the corner of the building, he startled the maids and walked in.

"Oh my..." his mother sighed while holding her face with a hand, watching as he searched. It wasn't there. There was no cradle... There was a cradle when he saw that room in the future, which meant...

"It is not time yet..." he muttered to himself. That's right. There had to be a cradle there, or things would not be the same in the future.

Everyone, his mother, her servants, and the servants already there, stared at him when he let out a laugh.

"Sesshomaru," his mother began, trying to glower through her surprise, "what has overcome you?"

He smiled at her. Today was going to be a great day. "Sanity has, mother."

She shared a glance with her head maid, making sure she herself hadn't gone insane for what she saw. "Sesshomaru, perhaps you should lay down for a while. I feel you slept too little while training, as expected..."

The servants seemed reassured at that excuse. Good. Sesshomaru retired to his quarters, not really thinking at all, and this time fell into a deep slumber. He had a certain miko to thank.

* * *

**A/N:** Interesting? I know, poor Sesshomaru, having to adjust to one place then back to the other... I was actually eager to put him through that just to see how much he's changed. XD

I'm not sure when the next update will be, because I'm planning on making it a rather long chapter. Longer than this, and this was fifteen pages! D: Not the largest chapter ever, but gee, what's up with these long chapters?!

Reviews please!! Thanks for reading!


	20. Becoming the Lord of the Western Lands

**A/N:** Holy crap... Chapter twenty?? T-T It feels like it should be much further along… That's probably because this chapter kept getting erased by those bull crap 'update by the countdown and restart your computer' sessions! Twice!! I don't even know how, but this stupid computer stole a good seven pages... TT-TT

But, finally, it is finished! And it is **soooooo** long, dear lord... Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 20**

**Becoming the Lord of the Western Lands**

A few more days had passed since Sesshomaru's useful dream, and feeling rested enough to see the obvious on his own he met with the gathered council. Jaken, acting as though he were demoted, was rather apprehensive towards not participating in the meeting, but the last thing Sesshomaru needed there was a toad with a floppy beak.

He was quick to remember that he really hated the council. For various reasons.

"Lord Sesshomaru," the first of four women began, smiling warmly as she spoke in Mandarin Chinese. "It has been a long time."

"Too long!" the second of four men chortled in the same tongue, his belly round with wealth and mirth. Sesshomaru spoke Mandarin fluently, as it was his original language, he just didn't prefer it. "Last time we saw you your father had to haul your toddler self out by your sash just so we had a table to sit at!"

They all enjoyed that memory, even the ones who didn't remember it. His being a toddler for the last time they saw him showed how often the council was ever called upon. Individual members would visit frequently though and consume his father's time.

As the laughter faded to giggles and clearing of throats Sesshomaru acknowledged to himself that he would have dismissed them immediately if not for the time and great risk needed to call them there. Despite their ages, which were quite ancient even for demons, they were all still wise, and he could use some experience and wisdom he admittedly didn't have yet.

"Well met, members of the council," he formally began, all of them bowing slightly towards the center of the table in regards to him. "I assume all of you know the issues behind your summons?"

"So strict," the fourth man, or in other words the man sitting furthest from Sesshomaru, stated. All the men were to Sesshomaru's left, the women to his right. He absentmindedly noted that all the men wore the top portion of their long hair in topknots while the rest was loose. "You there! Servant girl! Come here!"

Sesshomaru saw that this particular fellow was a war veteran, and that fact was supported by him calling for an unhealthy amount of sake. The servant bowed and dismissed herself, quite possibly needing to go find ten others to haul the order in. Sesshomaru hated sake, but would have felt odd being the only one to order tea.

"Now then!" the veteran began, clapping his clawed hands eagerly. "On with the business of battle!"

"Dreadful topic," the third woman commented scornfully, her exceptionally narrow eyes turning to slits of displeasure.

"Coming from an herbalist, I should assume so!" the veteran fired off, smiling widely. It was amazing, when he stretched his aged features into that merry expression the less tanned parts of his face were completely hidden in familiar skin folds. He apparently smiled a lot, which seemed odd for his status... In fact, they had all laughed already. For their ranks and age, they acted younger than Sesshomaru himself! "No worries, sake will loosen all tongues!"

"You plan to discuss such a topic with less than half your wits about you?" asked the first woman, smiling with mirth. "My, my, and here I had thought you would change your ways."

"Why change a good thing?" the veteran inquired, slapping the third man on the shoulder for fun. "Now, _this_ man has changed!"

All of the women suddenly glared at him, the third man stared straight ahead, and the two men closest to Sesshomaru suddenly looked like they didn't want to be in the room anymore.

"Change happens," the third and fairly strict looking man stated, removing the hand that was still on his shoulder. Everyone relaxed with the action. "There would be no life if there was no change."

Sesshomaru had to agree with that. He didn't know why the counselor had changed to be negative though. In fact, he'd never known any of the members before now, so their personalities were still a mystery to him.

"Cheer up," smiled the fourth woman, who happened to be the youngest of the elders. "We are here to discuss battle tactic, not the past. You two should be delighted to finally be called here for your specialty."

Ah yes, specialties. It was gradually becoming obvious which member served what purpose. The two men on the end, though seeming to be opposites, were both veterans. He later discovered that the second woman was too, despite her beautiful attire and feminine charm. She was very noble in her garb and in the way she held herself, and was the only woman to have her hair fully drawn up. All of her features were quite petite in a pretty fashion, and by her scent she still had pursuers despite her age.

When the sake came the carefree chattering ceased and seriousness began to settle in, oddly enough. There was a long silence and then the straight faced veteran finally sighed and stood.

"Time to assess what we have to work with."

"So soon?" the woman veteran asked calmly when Sesshomaru found himself fending off a blade with two fingers. That was one of two blades though he noted as its twin came slicing for his side.

"This had _better_ require less blood than it had with the Inu no Taisho!" the herbalist scolded when Sesshomaru leaped from his seat and unsheathed Tenseiga.

"Yeah, yeah," the serious veteran regarded her, standing now on the floor cushion where Sesshomaru had once sat. He tipped his head to Tenseiga. "You plan to fight me with the blade that cannot cut?"

"Tenseiga has been trained into a weapon," Sesshomaru informed, which raised a few eyebrows.

The veteran smirked. "I see. Let us take this outside."

"Dear lord, what on earth is happening _now_?" Sesshomaru's quickly approaching mother asked the women as everyone lined one side of the court to watch, various servants tending to all. Jaken, trained on silence, was at her heels. The silence was probably due to her calling him 'little youkai' every time he opened his beak, but he seemed less than miserable upon seeing his lord.

As Sesshomaru stepped off the outdoor walk with his opponent, he decided to accept that this all made sense and was not random. They simply wanted to know his strengths and weaknesses, just like they had done with his father. Sesshomaru had not seen the original fight, since he had not been born to do so, but there had been several other spars after the original. He had only been able to sneak around the guards once to watch a fight, and awed at Tetsusaiga's powers as the men battled. Now though, Sesshomaru did not wield Tetsusaiga. Instead he possessed a blade which more than outdid his father's preferred weapon.

"Alright!" the jolly veteran began, raising his hands. Sesshomaru noticed that one hand still held a sake cup... "Brawl!"

...

_Brawl_? That was not the term he expected. Nonetheless, he didn't have much time to contemplate vocabulary when his opponent disappeared. Sesshomaru simply stood there.

"Is he asking to be killed?" the herbalist whispered.

The female veteran had a smile on her face.

…

There.

Sesshomaru braced Tenseiga above his right temple to catch the oncoming blade. His free left hand deftly grabbed the attacker's wrist, and pulling Tenseiga from under the blade he punched the counselor's elbow out of place with his armed fist. It all took a fraction of a second.

The jolly veteran began laughing his ass off when his partner jumped back and landed ten feet away from Sesshomaru. "He got you there, Le!"

Le? That was it? No entitlement?

"So," Le began, unflinchingly fixing his left arm. "Do you think you are as good as your father, boy?"

Boy? "No," Sesshomaru replied, which made a few ears perk. "I have surpassed him."

"Ho ho!" laughed the jolly fat man as others shared looks. "We have a cocky one on our hands, yes?"

"You have no idea, Tao..." Sesshomaru's mother sighed, her bored expression hiding how truly disgusted she had been by the crack and pop of Le's arm being realigned. "Shu Fang, would you like to sit for tea?"

Sesshomaru noted one of the female counselors nod merrily in acceptance as he blocked for the seventh time in five seconds. Le was being ridiculously persistent, so Sesshomaru spared a minimal amount of energy and released a kenatsu towards the man's face. The very miniature Wind Scar made a small flash and the sound or ripping parchment. It was the same thing he used on the Bone Eaters Well upon arriving so many days ago, and was also good on relentless foes.

Le fell back into a defensive position, scrubbing at his partially blinded eyes, and his hand came away bloody. That didn't seem to matter though when he lunged again.

The herbalist sighed, sounding disappointed.

"Come now, Mei!" laughed the sake loving man. "What is a spar without a little blood?"

She gave him a flat stare, no one really seeming to mind the horrid breeze a full-blown Wind Scar could produce. Sesshomaru saw that it still rustled the viewer's clothes as he leaped after a falling back Le through various clouds of earth.

"A clean one, Sheng" the herbalist replied, coughing for the dust while straightening her garments. "Unlike the initiation fight you had with Cheng so long ago."

"That was one for the record!" the veteran Sheng laughed. "Nearly lost my arm in that one!"

"I would say your whole left side," Mei corrected.

Who was Cheng?

"Mind your eyes, not your ears boy!" Le yelled, attacking only to be fended off again. Sesshomaru was ready to dispatch this man, but that would mean killing someone he needed.

Damn…

About three hours of battling and energy releasing fun later, the counselors were having delightful conversations in groups of two and three within rings of attendants, and Sesshomaru was panting. Heavily. That man simply would not stop!

"Had enough?" Le asked, a tad more composed than Sesshomaru could manage.

"_I_ certainly have," Sesshomaru's mother answered. He hadn't even noticed her being back…

"Ah!" the female veteran, annoyingly enough named Li, exclaimed. "That was not too long!"

Sesshomaru and Le leveled looks at her, which she brushed off without even the bat of an eyelash.

"Alright, time for the meeting!" Sheng prompted with a smile, clapping his clawed hands eagerly. He liked to do that.

Sesshomaru, straightening from a battle stance and sighing, did not want to go sitting around the rest of the day listening to old people squabble… He was simply not in the mindset to do so.

He and Le shared a momentary glare before the man quickly sheathed his swords and excused himself with a bow. Sesshomaru followed, passing Tao who was in animated discussion with Mei and the two chancellors whose names escaped him, probably due to the fact that they rarely spoke.

"Ah-ah!" Shu Fang clucked when Sesshomaru went to follow Le and the other veterans through the door. He was stopped and it was closed in his face. "That meeting is not for you to attend."

Oh thank kami he was free…

"Good job, Chao-san!" the chubby man in charge of finances congratulated with a clap over Sesshomaru's shoulder.

… Chao-san? Chao?? Why san? That was Japanese entitlement added to a Chinese name, and not even proper.

"Need you bother him with a nickname so soon?" Shu Fang inquired, smiling nonetheless. She apparently found Sesshomaru being called surpassing-man rather cute.

"Ah, why spare him the treatment his father got?" Tao asked, shaking Sesshomaru's shoulder like they were lifelong drinking buddies.

"_He_ did not appreciate it either," Mei informed the deranged man.

"He did after a century. Better Cheng than calling him _Inu no Taisho_ all the time." Tao laughed, shocking Sesshomaru. "He refused to tell us his full birth name anyway!"

Cheng?! They nicknamed his honorable father **Cheng**?! Alright, sure, Cheng roughly meant 'accomplished one', and that reflected Sesshomaru's father well, but such an inappropriate and disrespectful entitlement? He was amazed that his father didn't kick these people out of the council post-haste. It would have saved him the trouble of having to do it.

"Besides," the man resumed, finally removing his hand from Sesshomaru's frame, "Japanese still feels odd on my tongue, I do not know why you changed your names upon moving to Japan. And such formality is rather annoying."

"Cannot teach an old dog new tricks," Mei commented, addressing Sesshomaru in Japanese next. "Quite the intolerable man, no? No matter how much your father tried Tao still knows only the basics in Japanese."

Sesshomaru nodded as the silent duo giggled, making the wealthy looking man glance back at them with curiosity.

"What was that?" Tao asked in Mandarin, knowing he was being talked about.

"Nothing you cannot handle," Shu Fang supplied, Sesshomaru's mother training her face into a calm expression once more in the elder woman's shadow. "Chao, dear, would you accompany me?"

The tiny hairs on Sesshomaru's neck lifted with anger as even his mother giggled at that and his reaction, and he heard the three veterans sharing the new nickname amongst themselves. It seemed to be his for the keeping…

He accepted Shu Fang's request for a private audience with him, and he noted how expected his doing so was when they entered a room prepared for two. Apparently, sake was a necessity in Sesshomaru's presence today…

"Really, must you subject me to drink alone?" she asked after five minutes of silence, sitting across from Sesshomaru at a small table.

He hated sake more than he hated the council, but Sesshomaru filled a cup to 'savor' out of courtesy. Ugh, and it was warmed…

Shu Fang smiled at him over the rim of her steaming beverage, and taking a sip she lowered it to her lap. "You know, this reminds me of the first time I spoke with your father alone."

… Fascinating… "Why is the room guarded by the silent?"

"The guards?" she asked. "Your mother selected them. Are they all deaf?"

He nodded. She shrugged. He took anther drink, and deep down inside he gagged.

"Still so young," she commented, apparently picking up on his internal wince. "It is amazing that you already have a woman so sufficiently wrapped around your mind."

Oh dear kami… _That_ is what his mother wanted to talk to her about?? "Ridiculous."

"Oh, no, not really," Shu Fang replied before taking another sip. "Your father was two hundred years younger than you are now when he became interested in your mother as a mate. Which reminds me, her nickname is Li Hua."

"Pear Blossom?" he translated.

"Oh, it was so cute!" Shu Fang abruptly giggled, holding her face like a love-struck woman one thirty-seventh her age. "In China, in the castle your uncle currently rules, is where they met. Your father was so tender with her, much more so than with anyone else, even his concubines, and she would visit him a lot. Trust me, I know, I was her guardian for a very long time. Anyway, she got that name because his first sign of interest in her was to decorate her hair with a pear blossom. They were mated only three years after that."

Sesshomaru was, surprisingly enough, interested in this. He never knew much about his parents, only what he observed while growing up. Three years of courting was indeed a short amount of time. If his mother came to visit regularly, then she probably only saw her mate-to-be thirty six times before allowing him to claim her.

"Cheng was the only one to make your mother giggle," Shu Fang commented, apparently quite comfortable with the nickname. "It is so hard to get the young inuyoukai royalty to enjoy life. It goes straight from merry childhood to serious adolescence with you children."

"I am not a child," Sesshomaru informed her, taking another drink to occupy himself and being rudely reminded that it was not tea.

"One must deceive one's self before deceiving others," she quoted, smirking over her cup.

Sesshomaru scowled.

"Your mother told me something interesting," Shu Fang offered as a change of subject. "She said that you had laughed not too long ago. Quite the rarity for you."

Damn gossiping women…

"Also, it was a laugh which was preceded by inquiry on a cradle?"

Damn gossiping women who suspected the worst of things...

"Relief in the absence of one, I assure you," Sesshomaru offered, finishing off his serving of sake. He hadn't told anyone about the dream, as it was still rather unbelievable to himself. He nearly growled with displeasure when Shu Fang refilled the cup politely for him.

There was a long span of silence, which was extremely boring… He had nothing to discuss with her though, so after twenty minutes Sesshomaru's mind was wandering restlessly. He thought about battle strategies, relations in the north and south, what could possibly trigger the downfall of the o-shiro, Kagome…

"Ah, so your mother was correct," the woman finally spoke, pouring herself a twelfth cup and Sesshomaru his fifth.

"How so?" he inquired while storing his thoughts away, glaring at the liquid as though he could make it evaporate with his gaze alone. Or freeze it, any non-consumable form it took was good for him.

"That you have a female on your mind," she informed him warmly. "Do not deny it, you cannot hide such an obvious expression from little old me."

Yet deny it he did, and she smiled.

"Such is another burden for the young," she stated thoughtfully. "You refuse to acknowledge the best of things ever happening."

The best of things? What was she blathering about? His month-long emotional turmoil was utter hell and the only things which came from it were loosened personal control and a feminine mental infection. An infection with no cure. It actually made him miss the girl, at certain dull times... Of which there happened to be quite a few. In fact, the last few days he was thinking of what she would say in response to even the most common of activities or responses, and that resulted in Sesshomaru calling himself certain names which he didn't find at all appropriate...

"For suspecting as much and seeing it as good," he began, willing himself to forget those last confusing thoughts, "she had yet to calculate the fact that I was not in China to find an inu."

"Does that matter?"

Sesshomaru, this time genuinely, regarded her. Did he hear her correctly? "Of course it would."

The woman shook her head. "My, my. Another flaw of being young…" He swallowed down his growl with the entire fifth cup in one gulp, and didn't really care this time that she refilled it. The taste began to dull with time anyway. "Love can take many forms."

He blinked at her.

"What?" she asked, giving an innocent shrug. "You know, if I was to recall every sexual encounter in my life, I would say that a great many of them were actually with humans." Now he just gawked, slightly. And she giggled. "They really can be feisty little encounters. Despite the risk of hanyou children they _are_ rather fun. Mm, did you know that a female demon mating a human male has less of a chance getting pregnant than a human female mating a male demon? It is practically a one in fifty chance to a fifty percent chance."

... "Hence the reason men like myself do not chase after humans."

She smirked. Sesshomaru then spent the next five hours discussing such matters until they began to repeat themselves for lack of ideas. When they left to check on the rest of the council his head was still spinning with thoughts.

"We have come, to a _decision_!" Sheng announced merrily when Sesshomaru and Shu Fang returned to the council room, sounding a tad drunk as sake bottles enshrined him like candles.

Sesshomaru waited patiently for the important outcome of the afternoon while approaching a seat, feeling a tad tipsy himself. He now liked sake more than the council, but it was still a rather low affection.

"We have decided, that your nickname _shall_ be Chao-san!"

Sesshomaru nearly fell over.

"It _is_ a good one, no?" Tao, the name chooser, inquired.

"Indeed!" Li replied giddily.

...

"Now then!" Sheng continued, putting an arm around Sesshomaru's frame and steering him right back out the door he had just walked through. "Off for _our _meeting!"

Sesshomaru noticed that no one else followed… Well, no one important. Sheng had his own entourage of sake bearing servants tailing him, which sadly didn't daze Sesshomaru.

"Ah!" the more than grown man sighed as he had himself a seat in the grass. They were in the small private garden associated with the room he was assigned while he stayed. If Sesshomaru wasn't impressed enough, Sheng not only flopped onto his back but told Sesshomaru to do the same.

He had a seat, and waved the drink bearers away for the night. They felt obligated to leave the sake though...

"Where did all of your father's consorts go?"

That was quite random... "My mother 'relocated' them."

Sheng went from his back onto his elbows and fixed Sesshomaru a look. "She dismissed them?"

"In a sense, yes."

"That is quite dishonorable..." Sheng commented almost to himself. And that it was. Dismissing them was breaking the lifelong guarantee to have food, a home, child care, and to never be kicked out. "Where are they?"

Sesshomaru shrugged. "Perhaps mingled within my uncle's collection."

"Did they take their kids?" Sheng inquired.

"Some did. Some did not. Those which remained were raised as servants." It was odd to think that Sesshomaru's half-siblings of full inu blood served the o-shiro now, but it was easily overlooked.

"... Hm," the old man muttered. "I had no idea your mother would be so bitter towards them. Have you started your own collection yet?"

"No."

"A shame... Perhaps you can go to China and reclaim your father's consorts. He had quite the talented selection even before he married your mother."

There was a span of silence, which was interrupted by Sheng's sigh.

"I like being on top of a mountain," he began for good measure. "The stars are brighter the closer you get to them."

"That they are," Sesshomaru replied, watching the man as he stargazed.

"Come now, Sesshomaru, have yourself a break!" Sheng encouraged him. "It's not every day, or night rather, that I get to lounge with royalty."

Indeed it did not seem like his forte…

"Say, you know all those times your father and I were 'sparing'?"

Sesshomaru nodded.

"Then you know a lie," Sheng informed him, grabbing a whole bottle of alcohol and bringing it nonchalantly to his lips for a long haul. He sighed, breath tainted with the warm twinge of the drink, and relaxed into the earth. "Well, mostly a lie. More often than not, he and I were just staring at time."

"At time?" Sesshomaru asked.

"It really is a hard thing to do," Sheng admitted, wobbling slightly as he got up onto an elbow. He pointed up. "You see those stars, Sesshomaru?"

"Clearly."

"Don't ever be one."

Sesshomaru blinked at the abbreviated word. He had only heard that sort of slang in the future.

"To be a star is to die," Sheng informed him, putting a hand over his heart. "Right here." He fell over onto his back once more. "Sure, stars are pretty to look at, and they seem so out of reach that they can't help but to be marveled. But if you look real close, you'll see that they never move. … All their lives, they watch others live. They envy us, Sesshomaru."

… "Why would that be?"

Sheng reached out and slapped a hand onto Sesshomaru's knee. "They can't feel, Chao-san. And they never live because they can never die. You see son, life isn't about being perfect. In fact, it's rather the opposite. Your imperfections are what make you stand apart from others, and they're the things to lead you down a path into purgatory. Once you're there, you get to live. When you leave, and you stop making mistakes and living, one way or another you die. It's that simple."

Apparently purgatory was another five hundred years away...

Sheng rolled onto his side to regard Sesshomaru, after emptying another bottle of course. "Being regal all the time is utter hell... ... You want to learn something your daddy loved?"

"… Why not?" Sesshomaru asked, figuring he'd take a bottle himself for this one. Drunk counselors were rather entertaining.

"Now, I don't expect you to get this the first time," Sheng stated. "What you gotta do, is bottle up **all** of your energy."

Sesshomaru stared, and then did so.

"Fail!" Sheng yelled, gesturing at Sesshomaru with an empty bottle.

"What do you mean?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I said all of it, not most of it!" Sheng yelled.

"I did."

"You didn't."

"I did."

"You damn well didn't!" Sheng yelled. "Let's put it this way. If I stabbed you," he jabbed Sesshomaru in the stomach, "here. Would you die?"

"No."

"Then you didn't!"

Sesshomaru frowned. "Are you suggesting that I surrender all forms of self interest for this?"

"If self interest brings you even a toe above humanity," Sheng informed, measuring with his fingers how much a toe was… "Then yes."

To do that would be to completely withdraw from everything Sesshomaru spent his life in training, from sharpening his senses to lengthening his own life. He'd be rendered mortal. "Preposterous."

"Oh, it is!" Sheng agreed. "That's why your daddy and I did it! I was rather shocked the first time. The years certainly don't come catching up with you."

Sesshomaru merely looked at the man. Was he insane?

"Come on, if I do it first will you?" Sheng bartered, not sounding his age in the slightest. In fact, he sounded like an annoying miko.

"You would risk your life in such a fashion?" Sesshomaru asked.

Sheng shrugged. "Being an idiot is always a great source of entertainment…"

Those words struck a nerve. Sesshomaru was rudely reminded of the first descent on a particular amusement ride he didn't fancy, eyes closed and arms up. Oye... He really didn't want to think about her or anything relating to her, because doing so made him miss having her irritating self around for the most unexplainable reason.

Sesshomaru stirred himself from his memories when Sheng suddenly disappeared from the sixth sense. He had to look over to confirm that the energy-suppressed demon was still there.

"Just like old times," he said to himself with a sigh. Aside from his appearance he was just like a human now, and that gave Sesshomaru an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. "It's feeling like this that one can die happy."

"It is feeling like that that one can die easily," Sesshomaru informed the foolish old man.

Sheng gave out a hearty laugh then. "Oh, the memories you stir in me!"

Sesshomaru frowned.

"You sound just like your father when he was your age," Sheng informed. "Damn he was a stiff back then too." He looked over to see Sesshomaru roll his eyes. "Now, now, don't act like that. To let you know two things, your _father_ showed _me_ how to do this, and he changed on his own accord."

"With drink?" Sesshomaru asked, surprised when he swung his bottle slightly to the lack of a slosh. Either he drank it all or it finally evaporated.

"Nah," Sheng replied. "It was the change which provoked the drink. Not that he was an alcoholic, he barely tolerated the stuff." Ah, inheritance... "Your honorable, regal, intelligent, and mighty father fell in love for a second time, and not a month after your birth."

Sesshomaru then scowled. Deeply. "Which would make three 'mates' in his life."

"Technically, two," Sheng clarified. "His first love, your mother, was an arranged marriage."

... That was news...

"Not to say that she is the exception, nor that their love wasn't natural," Sheng defended. "Those two were the highlight of life for miles when they were with one another. There was indeed love, just not how love usually occurs." Sheng paused for a few minutes to consider how to word where he was going with this unpleasant topic, and in those few minutes Sesshomaru found he had gathered to himself two newly emptied sake bottles. "Lighten up on the drink there son, there's no need to chug when you can savor."

"This Sesshomaru does not 'chug'."

Sheng snorted. "I'm rather sure you don't... Anyway, to put matters clean and simple, your father met someone while he was banned from your mother's presence."

"Banned?" Sesshomaru inquired, blinking. His face felt hot.

"Yeah, you wouldn't remember that. You should know though that men stay away from mother and pup for the first year in our clan. It's more instinct than anything else, but Cheng had to be 'encouraged' to go away for that long. When I couldn't get him away, your mother certainly did. She nearly beheaded the poor bastard when she caught him watching you sleep in your cradle. And trust me, you were all he talked about for months, to the point of being excessive."

"And the woman?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Right, the clean and simple bit..." Neither of those adjectives were true. "She was an utter nightmare for your father and I."

"You accompanied him?"

"Like a brother!" Sheng informed with a smirk. "We traveled over to Japan, scouting future terrain and getting our fill in training. You father wanted to familiarize himself with the major demon colonies, especially the sparse wolf ones. It was while doing the latter when he met her." Sesshomaru was silent, so Sheng continued. "Being rather young and foolish, your father and I decided that in the spring of that year we would re-visit a particularly friendly little territory of wolves nestled in the heart of the lands. We wanted to see how many females we could lure away for a night."

Sesshomaru eyed him.

He chuckled. "No, we didn't even get one of them! There was trouble afoot... ... When we got there things were quiet and calm, and the wolves ignored us lords as they kept watch for real foes. We ran into the women as planned, or they rather ran into us for getting so near the pup filled den, but aside from that we met them and the first thing Cheng could ask was 'what has happened here'. I about smacked myself. He could be so bullheaded about politics. The women no more than looked at one another for the volunteer to explain things when Cheng began to walk away towards the scent of wolves and a human female."

Sesshomaru's attentions were caught.

"Oh, you should have seen how much of a handful _she_ was! Needed four demons around her just to suppress her powers let alone keep her under control, despite her being blind as a bat."

Aforementioned attentions were now ensnared. Sesshomaru's father... No, that wasn't fathomable...

"A feisty little priestess. Or rather, an itako trainee."

... It was fathomable...?

"You know what an itako is, right?" Sheng asked.

"Of course," Sesshomaru replied, thinking of a young and blind woman in white as they were described to be. "I have never met one though." Dear kami, was he really turning out like his father? First his mother comments on it after Rin's second revival, and now he was hearing stories about demons and mikos.

"Well, your father certainly did!" Sheng laughed. "Oh she made his life hell, and without even trying. We, being ignorant lords, took her into our custody and off the wolves' hands; which they were more than happy to agree to. Apparently the men had been out on a hunt when they witnessed the girl trying to commit suicide by pouring water over herself from the mountain stream at nightfall. Turns out, it was her first day of one hundred in training, which explained her white garb... Your father and I really didn't know what to make of her, so we decided to return her to the village she came from..."

Sheng fell into a moment of thoughtfulness, emptying half a bottle of sake in one tip while he was at it. "Cheng had been the one to carry her, considering her condition and his ability to quell her energy. She was more than resistant at first, but being a frightened child of no more than thirteen she didn't last too long. Especially when he got that pelt around her. She even stopped shivering at that point. Anyway, we were no more than thirty paces from the village when she asked Cheng if he was a god."

Sesshomaru already knew his father would have said yes to such a question even before Sheng threw a cocky smile at him.

"But of _course_ he was a god... We thought it was funny, and since she couldn't see us smirking over it she missed out on the joke. So we dropped her off, and she asked Cheng if he could come back to that place in one hundred and twenty days."

"He did, correct?" Sesshomaru asked.

Sheng nodded. "It was simple enough, and coming from a child Cheng was allowed to be curious as to why. Besides, he and I weren't even halfway through our isolation, so it was a good way to kill time. I had thought that your father would forget about her after a week, but he didn't. Instead, he talked of her more frequently with the passing of time, until finally he realized how silly it was to do so and he didn't mention her again. After one hundred and twenty days though, I woke up to find he was gone. I could have found him if I wanted, but there was no desire to and so I didn't. He came back that evening and said he was just married off."

Sesshomaru choked on the sake, which felt absolutely horrendous up one's nose.

"That was my expression exactly!" Sheng announced as Sesshomaru gagged. "I was absolutely baffled, but we both had a good laugh over itakos and the gods who supposedly claim them. A year later, he celebrated his 'wedding anniversary' by crossing the sea and visiting her again while keeping updated on demon tribes, and it was then that he began to fall for her."

"So easily?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Oh, no. Trust me, it wasn't... There were never any touchy-feeling emotions between them, nor words of love. It was her company he had fallen in love with." Sheng glanced at Sesshomaru, seeing a befuddled expression. "Sounds silly, right? He and I began talking about it after a meeting on how to invade Japan, when she reached her fiftieth year, and he admitted that he didn't want her to die. So, he went to Japan again to find Tōtōsai, whether he's still alive or not is beyond me but he was a great weapon smith, and ripped out a fang to have it forged into a weapon..." Sheng gave a pointed glance at Tenseiga. "Tōtōsai forged your father two blades from that fang. The sword which could save a hundred lives in one stroke, and another which could slay one hundred in a stroke."

"Two swords from one fang?" Sesshomaru inquired. This was definitely new.

"Well, did you expect to have your father to resign himself to smiling with _two_ missing teeth for a day?" Sheng asked as means of a joke, which didn't take well. He sighed. "Where was I...? Yes, one fang to forge two swords, which explains their inexplicable liking for one another rather nicely. The one your father sought was Tenseiga, while Tetsusaiga was forged to harbor the energy which is folded into the steels of such blades. Forging these took a month, and by the time Tōtōsai delivered the weapons and Cheng arrived at the village, he was greeted with her remains of bones and ashes."

Sesshomaru suddenly felt sick at that thought. He blamed the sake.

"She died of age, despite how short a time fifty years seems to us. I didn't see your father again for two years. No one saw your father again. They were infuriated because of the missed invasion date. Your mother tried to tell you, and you were still a child at this point, that he was just being a lord and that whatever he does is what he must do. When he came back to call on the council is when you were so excited to see him that you jumped onto the table. You didn't seem to take too well to being hauled out."

"Not well at all," Sesshomaru supplied. He remembered that, and how he had to find a very isolated spot at the edge of the o-shiro barrier to cry soundlessly over it. He remembered it because it was the last time he ever cried.

"I figured," Sheng added. "Your father was absolutely miserable, on the inside at least. He needed to call upon the council for permission to forge a third sword, which would be breaking the mainland code. I was the only member to deny him, and he hated me for it. You shouldn't go making weapons though in a foul mood, and I was the only one he couldn't hide it from."

He emptied the bottle, and reached back only to slap a tray. "We're out? Damn... Anyway, two weeks later So'unga, a sword which could enter hell and manipulate the dead, was born. Your mother was absolutely petrified of it, and demanded that you not be exposed to such a weapon. ... Cheng got a grasp of it quickly enough, and politics were in a bit of a ruckus over his sudden disappearance, _again_. After... I believe two days, he returned and forgave me, and he had this funny little ghostly demon from hell named Saya with him. He helped your father to fully control the blade until he was strong enough to do it himself in exchange for stability amongst the living. Aside from that, I let him be for a few months, and when I visited again you were bouncing on his knee. It was around then that he showed me how to bottle my energies like this..."

Thusly, their conversation looped, and Sesshomaru was reminded that the demon laying nearby really didn't feel like a demon at all.

"He had to learn this in order to accomplish what he needed to do in hell, surprisingly enough. He eventually told me that he had called out to his itako, revealing himself to any onslaught which would seize his exposed self so that her miko spirit would not shy from him, and instead of being torn to pieces by those imprisoned for eternity he was enveloped by light."

"How does that work?" Sesshomaru inquired, feeling the corners of his mouth lift slightly over his own confusion.

Sheng regarded him. "Surely you know the main difference between spiritual and demonic energies, correct?"

Ah, right... One was inherited through blood, the other remained with the soul. He nodded.

"Good. She found him and easily protected him, and from what he claims they talked. For two full days, by kami! Do you have any idea how drained you become in hell?" Yes. He did. "She said she would see him again, but not as an itako, and sure enough she did."

Sesshomaru frowned. Maybe it was the drink which made him feel confused...

"Souls, whether human or demon or spiritual, are recycled five hundred years after death. You were five hundred and fifty years old when your father vanished one day for no apparent reason." Sesshomaru remembered that as well. It was when he began to take to wandering the lands he would inherit. "He left to see her as a reborn infant who wasn't even named yet."

"Izayoi."

Sheng regarded Sesshomaru when he spoke. "Yes, Izayoi is the name _he_ gave her, and which she went by starting at childhood. It is the one she had in her previous life, and he liked it for the meaning of Full Moon, the time when even the darkest of nights were bright. You know well enough how he watched her grow and talked with her more than annually. Your mother did too, and she accepted his appreciation for such a brief mortal. It is common after all for a healthy inu man to mate more than one woman in his life outside of his consorts, and he chose Izayoi."

"She was not a priestess though," Sesshomaru informed Sheng. "Her powers should have transcended."

"They should have," he agreed. "But apparently something happened, and she was in no position to understand why since she had no memories prior to being a few years old. ... Later on, Tenseiga was finally used to save both her and Cheng's hanyou child, and he used So'unga again for the first time in centuries to obliterate the man who sought the life if his soul mate."

"Soul mate?" Sesshomaru asked, believing this to be a bit of a joke.

Sheng merely smiled. "That's what he called her. Your mother was his official mate, but his soul belonged to another and she knew it."

Sesshomaru was now completely convinced that sake made everything wrong since his head was spinning ever so slightly. He reclined into the grass to discuss less heavy topics with Sheng until the night faded and the sun was glaring into their faces. The next night Sesshomaru learned what Sheng had tried to make him do, but not because of curiosity.

"I swear, it'll work!" the veteran laughed when he saw Sesshomaru's expression to feeling his heart beat so quickly. "And you're not having a heart attack, that's how quick it _should_ be beating. We just make it slow down to a boring pace."

It hurt... Sesshomaru felt like his head and fingertips were pulsating with every seemingly rapid beat, which happened to be sixty-five beats per minute now, and after a moment he realized they indeed were. It gave him a headache, which was a feeling he had avoided since childhood. It felt remotely like what that ice cream had given him.

Sheng seemed to be enjoying it though. After a few minutes Sesshomaru grew accustomed to the feeling of allowing his body to function as it naturally did, and despite his dull senses two things became very prudent. His stomach and his bladder.

"See, this is a reason demons prefer not feeling like this all the time," Sheng informed Sesshomaru as they sat down to a feast. The servants were surprised to feel the two of them bearing no energy, but they calmed when Sheng continued with what he started. "I do swear that it will work."

"How can it when my senses are this dulled?" Sesshomaru asked. He could definitely hear himself chew, but there was no rustling of fabric from the guards outside, no defined scents of who was who and what was what, even his peripheral had gone to shit. How did humans live like this??

"You will be fine," Sheng confirmed. Sesshomaru noted that the man spoke more formally when others were around. "Just do not get caught before you enter the middle of the city."

And that was the plan. Sesshomaru had demonstrated Tenseiga's powers, and within mere minutes the council was determined to use the Meidou Zangetsuha as the initial blow. It was the quickest attack with the most devastating outcome, and once the first blow was made the favor would tip extraordinary towards Bashamon's men. Their senses were better, they were faster, but most importantly the battle would be held in their terrain, and that last unnerved Sesshomaru the most. He would be left exposed and in the air after that attack, and the sight of the Meidou would be the signal for his forces and any arms he could gather to his call to bombard the city, leaving him to fight the majority of Bashamon's men himself in energy draining waves of attacks. It shouldn't affect him too much, but timing was everything. The longer he had to deal with the small fry reflected the amount of time Bashamon had to prepare and the more exerted Sesshomaru became. Once his reinforcements arrived though he would be free to battle the dragon of the pack, and once he was down everyone else would quickly follow. After all, reptiles were quite dumb and quite selfish. When Bashamon fell they would begin to squabble amongst themselves as well for dominance.

That was the battle plan.

One week after that, Sesshomaru left the o-shiro cautiously with the council and went to the north. They were off to have a political bargain.

"Another war?" asked a rather young man clad in furs from head to toe. From his scent, this man was related to the young wolf lord who allowed Rin to die a while back. "You dogs can never get enough, can you?"

Sesshomaru barely smirked. "We do enjoy regular fights." Sesshomaru's eight council members were all seated to his right on the grass where the wolves decided to meet, while the Lord of the Northern Lands' counselors were seated to his left. In this manner the councils could regard one another officially and speak freely, and Sesshomaru could have a battle of expressions with his fellow lord through the discussions of the councils.

The meeting had only lasted the day, mostly concerning bargains for the sought assistance in something which Sesshomaru had 'created for himself'. For the Lord of the Northern Lands, there was no benefit unless Sesshomaru doubly returned the amount of land taken by Bashamon and increased trade routes. This was agreed to and battle plans were shared, and after a night of travel there was another meeting held in the south.

This one was far more tedious than it had been in the north. Sesshomaru despised birds, but bore through it. The Lady of the Southern Lands was a beak-faced elder who needed her great-great-great-great-great-great grandchild to at times translate what was being said into chirps, clicks, screams and shrill whistles and vice versa. She was more resistant to the idea of aiding Sesshomaru, since her rivals the wolves had already agreed to do so and her alliance with the west was weak as it was, but she allowed increments of her soldiers to be called upon in accordance to the increment of land returned to her. It was finally established that one fifth of her air-worthy demons be sent to the boarder to be on call in exchange for a twenty percent interest on land returned to her. That was fine, Sesshomaru would have plenty of islands they'd love and would easily cover the interest.

And so, once the north and the south were gained as enforcers and told to prepare for battle by the next full moon, Sesshomaru was resigned to spend the rest of that time visiting groups of hidden battalions of his own and major wolf clans to tell them how to prepare for the war while the non-veteran council members returned to China to barter with his uncle. Sheng, Li and Le each separated to remain with the three main regiments scattered in the land to gather the forces and train for the week that they had.

"My lord," Jaken began one evening, clutching Sesshomaru's pelt as he flew off for a familiar clan, "I beg your pardon for bringing this up, my lord, but would it be beneficial to recruit Inuyasha and the Tetsusaiga?"

"Hn," Sesshomaru scoffed. "He would most likely destroy my own forces with his lack of control."

"Ah! Very true, my lord! I apologize for bringing such an obvious flaw into discussion!"

That toad had an annoying manner of speech... The council had made the same inquiry on the great blade, but seeing as only one being (and a very untalented one at that) could wield it now the subject was dismissed. Sesshomaru didn't want to hunt the mutt down anyway.

"Ah! It's you! Mutt-face's bro!"

"His name is Lord Sesshomaru you ungrateful wolf!" Jaken yelled at Koga, who had just run up to meet them when Sesshomaru crossed into his territory.

"Yeah, yeah," the wolf replied, crossing his arms and getting serious. "I've heard news of a war. We finally clearing the scaly filth out of here or what?"

Sesshomaru confirmed it, and the wolf smiled in an oddly cocky manner. "Alright then! You're welcome here! Want some boar?"

"Of course he's welcome here, he's the lord!" the green toad demon yelled, more affronted than Sesshomaru was.

"Jaken, silence yourself."

And he did for the rest of the evening, which was good because there was a bit of useful information to be attained.

"The Goraishi?"

"Yeah," Koga replied, seeming almost bored when he lifted his right hand and allowed a mystical device to leap from his flesh and cover his fingertips with metal sheers. There were five, and each was connected to a bracelet by thin chains. The sound of its summons echoed oddly in the cave they sat in, Koga's men feasting on what they were able to obtain that day. There were quite a few females in late pregnancy who were competing viciously for the meat, and they usually got it. "It's powerful, but it takes up my sword hand. Not that I really even use it, it's just the principle of the matter."

"How powerful?" Sesshomaru asked. This was interesting to have a new weapon on his side of the battle.

"It can knock aside the Backlash Wave. That's the most powerful attack it's faced so far." He withdrew the weapon back into his arm, which looked rather painful but didn't make him flinch. "It also has this funny holy energy to it. It's not like a monk's or priestess'. More like your blades'."

He was referring to Tenseiga. "Have you drawn on that energy yet?"

Koga rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not too sure. This thing's a pain to master. It's saved my life already though so I don't know if that counts. Its attack power is still as high as ever though, so I suppose the next time my life is in danger is when I'll find out."

Sesshomaru nodded. Sometimes weapons liked to hide certain things from their possessors.

"Koga!" came a feminine voice. Sesshomaru looked back to see a cute little wolf clad in white come whirling into the cave, sparing a glance at the dinner before settling her sights on Sesshomaru. "Oh! I'm sorry; I didn't think you would be meeting the lord right now."

"It's fine, Ayame. What's up?" the young minor lord asked.

"I just came from the north," she began, sitting to form a triangle, "but I suppose Lord Sesshomaru has already told you the battle plans."

Sesshomaru actually hadn't, and let her explain them to see what the other wolf packs were being told. It was quite accurate, which he told her when she asked.

"So," Koga started when she finished, "this means I get to lead my men into a camp full of stinkin' dogs?"

Jaken about burst, but Sesshomaru could tell that, in an insulting manner, Koga was being good natured.

"That's so rude," Ayame informed the young lord. She liked him, and by his scent Koga was beginning to return the feeling.

Koga shrugged. "It's true. You dogs smell horrible to wolves."

"Likewise," Sesshomaru replied. "I would request less than half of your men, as you will be having pups here soon."

"Yeah, that's true," Koga commented, taking a glance and counting heads. Sesshomaru had already registered the numbers. Forty eight able bodied men, twenty two children, thirty three females, six of which were pregnant, and all but seven of them had yet to bear Koga's scent as recognition of him being their leader. "None of the whelps will be mine though. My pack has become overrun in the last few weeks because of the annual dispersing from the north. Even Ayame came down from the main territory to join me."

Said little female blushed faintly. Sesshomaru expected she would bear Koga's pup in the next spring. Not only because she liked them, but because it was her scent the others bore to be their leader's. Apparently Koga had lost a great deal of men and they were merging packs. The wolves did this annual colonization like clockwork. For some reason they were slow to take on the full settlement extended by Sesshomaru's father from the last war so many hundreds of years ago, but the gradual change seemed to work nicely for both sides.

"So, the next full moon?" Koga asked when he saw Sesshomaru off.

"Yes."

"The southern regiment?"

"Yes," he repeated. "Ask for Sheng."

"Got it."

And he left. Four days later the night of the full moon came. Far more quickly than anticipated...

"Did you expect a storm?" Li inquired mildly, her black hair running in short rivulets down her face should it stray from the bun. Even in the rain she examined her honed blades in preparation for battle. Like Le, she possessed twin swords, and it just so happened that the two of them spent most of their lives sparing one another. She wore light armor that night, and if the moon weren't hidden behind the storm it would have glimmered across the buffed sheen and beads of water gathered to the metal.

"No," Sesshomaru admitted, smirking inside as he hunkered down near the hilltop with her, scanning the area and watching the patch which looked like a cloud shadow barely shift. Sheng's troops were there and finally in position after washing off most of their scents in the creek. There would have been another faint patch for the birds, but they were taking shelter in the woods until the battle started. Wet feathers were not the best condition for them. Despite that, Sesshomaru had hoped for bad weather, and was excited for the last two days when he caught the smell of rain on the wind.

Rain... The current drizzle would soon turn into the utter downpour of nature.

After the water had been falling heavily for five minutes was when Sesshomaru would leave. Rain was an element reptiles hid from, least they didn't mind being sluggish in body let alone mind. Even though they bore the appearance of man, they were still coldblooded and gathered heat from elsewhere. Sesshomaru's men would be hindered as well, but not as severely. So long as they kept a firm footing in the ground they would do well.

The five minutes went by quickly as Sesshomaru planned out his path. Sheng was position outside of the city entrance a quarter of a mile from the main road, and Sesshomaru would be passing them to enter the part of the city which would be penetrated only by himself. It would be good to lure any curious guards there while the main attack was initiated behind them in a pincer fashion.

Three hundred seconds had passed. It was his time to go.

A slight hand suddenly grasped Sesshomaru's wrist and he looked back to see Li with a very serious expression on her face. "You are sure about this move, Sesshomaru?"

He blinked at her. "Entirely."

They kept eye contact, and when she finally nodded and sank down the slight hill to the group she was leading he slid down the opposite side. He had a minute. That's all the council would allow. Tenseiga thrummed dangerously in his hand, but he restrained from allowing his energy to well up inside in response. He didn't want to announce himself before the initial blow after all...

Passing Sheng and his men at a run, receiving a quick thumbs up, Sesshomaru ran silently onward as two shadows fell in behind him. If he had kept his pelt with him he would have looked like a white wolf stalking the sheep herd, jumping over long-dead trees and swerving between bushes in the relatively flat field which separated his troops from the city entrance point. He kept an eye on the surveillance wall and arrow window notches, and seeing that no one wanted to be without a fire in that weather he easily approached the blind spot at the northern most point of the city, opposite Li's position. She, Sheng and Le were favoring the south end of the city.

Merely a foot from the wall, Sesshomaru regarded the two who had followed, both being women. They were experts in barrier making and great at stealth. They rose invisible walls which went through the thinner part of the wall, barely detectable, and enveloped Sesshomaru so he could wield Tenseiga and create an opening without being sensed.

Unsheathed, Tenseiga turned black, practically reflecting the sky, and with a slight swing a meidou sliced cleanly through and ended within the limits of the barrier. One of the women sighed at that. If Sesshomaru hadn't ended the attack at just that distance then it would have broken through the barrier and given the women the migraines of their lives. That and there would have to be piles of lizard bodies...

The barrier collapsed when Sesshomaru withheld his entire store of energy, as Sheng had showed him, and sheathed the blade. With a bow the women went running silently back to Sheng.

Sesshomaru ducked into the wall opening and hurried through the perfectly circular tunnel, hunching slightly. The meidou had not eaten completely through the wall, leaving Sesshomaru to loosen some large rocks with his fists. They broke easily, even without his full strength, and slipping through the hole he replaced the stones quickly and was on his way.

Sesshomaru came alongside the first of many houses and suppressed the urge to jump onto it. It would help his senses to have a better view, but it would help his foes even more. Besides, as he was now, he doubted he would be able to make the leap anyway. Going about this by foot and with bottled energy was the one option that worked. He had studied maps of this city, and now he had to follow the path set in his mind. The middle of the capital, where many prudent businesses and most of the ruling castle resided, was his target.

Even with dulled senses and pouring rain Sesshomaru could hear the hissed inhale which entered the opposite end of the alley he was crossing. He back stepped immediately to avoid being seen, but not being smelled he couldn't guarantee.

Loosening Bakusaiga in its sheath he waited, his back inches from the wet rock wall which still retained the heat of the passed day. There were no footsteps. Angling the blade upright in his left hand and slowly turning it Sesshomaru looked around the corner with the reflection. Although hindered by the engravings in the side, he saw nothing.

Good.

There was a sudden scream and the sound of running feet to his right, and Sesshomaru jabbed this sword straight out in instinct. Luckily, it gouged the guard through the middle, and his body quickly broke down into nothing.

Shit.

He ran. Random screams in the night were usually a sign of something bad, and others would be charging closer at any second. DAMN!! If he could have been in that city and not suppressing his power then he would have avoided the guard more than easily!

Avoiding major puddles, Sesshomaru's feet still splashed in the water gathered between cobblestones. You know what? Damn them all. He'd kill them without hesitation even without his full strength.

Slitting the throat of one who crossed his path he barely waited for the body to begin decomposing before dispatching the two following him. Anything that moved on a night like this was a good victim.

Twenty seven deaths later, Sesshomaru leaped over a wall which divided an alley and saw someone shift. Bakusaiga went immediately for the throat, and stopped centimeters away when he noticed that said throat was at the level of his hip.

A human child. A soaked one at that. He stared up at Sesshomaru, shocked and clutching a small satchel with food in it, then turned around and ran.

... It was a pity that he ran for the center of the city. No matter though. At least he ran silently.

A cautious five minutes later Sesshomaru saw the two story building which marked the beginning of the center, and slipping between more structures he peered into the street and was greeted by the wall which distinguished the section.

There would be more guards here.

Looking to both sides and glancing behind himself, Sesshomaru quickly dodged across the street, jumped onto the unstable crate stack, onto the slick nearby roof and over the wall before he could lose his footing.

He landed, and froze. He wasn't sensing anything too threatening, but Tenseiga began to shiver in its scabbard. He looked down and saw the Shikon no Tama slowly begin to glimmer, waking up.

Shit!! Demons could sense _that_ better than they could sense _him_! And they did. Sesshomaru gave up on hiding himself, and mounting a three story building he jumped off and into the rain plagued sky.

Warning bells soon began to ring, but at this point it was fine. Catching himself in midair, Sesshomaru drew Tenseiga and positioned it over his left shoulder to send a meidou to eat the earth and the center of the city with it.

...

He held it there, and stared down. This didn't feel right. He didn't know why, but something was screaming at him not to swing the blade down. Tenseiga simply quaked in his grip, but it wasn't the one yelling at him to hold back. This was wrong. It didn't go against his moral, he could kill the innocent. It didn't go against his instinct. But he had a bad feeling about it.

_'None of us today would have ever been born,'_ said a certain miko in his head, memories of a mall and changing rooms and the foul odor of perfume flickering in his mind. '_Just one little difference in the past, __**one**__, could change the entire future!'_

That was it. Tokyo certainly did not have a giant hole in it... The map of that city reminded him of the one of Edo.

Tenseiga continued vibrating violently, the jewel now like a blasted star in the air. He couldn't do it.

That was fine though, he had Bashamon's attention anyway.

Shooting up higher, Sesshomaru easily dodged the dragon form of his rival high lord as he came flying at him, the glow of a Shikon no Tama resonating from his chest as Sesshomaru's did from Tenseiga.

"I was beginning to wonder if you really had disappeared, Sesshomaru," the dragon commented, body looping through the air irregularly as he suspended in the sky, glancing at the Jewel in Tenseiga and brushing it off. Apparently the fool believed it to be a fake. Sesshomaru noticed that even without the attack his forces were moving in, and Bashamon saw as well.

Not wanting to have thousands of deaths on his hands in a matter of seconds, Sesshomaru lunged at the dragon. He was stronger than he had been last time, and even then he beat this miserable excuse for a lord. The fact they both possessed the Shikon no Tama was an unimportant factor since its strength was the same.

... Wait a second...

He quickly dodged five claws and a snapping jaw and dug Tenseiga into the body passing by as it flew for the ground. He did damage, but not enough to kill him. _Could_ he kill him? Sesshomaru was definitely confused now. Why? Why was Bashamon alive in the future, even as a shadow of his former self?

"Thinking at a time like this?" Bashamon inquired, lunging with open mouth for Sesshomaru again. Apparently this dragon thought Sesshomaru easy prey if last time was anything to reference from. Fangs were mere feet away and Sesshomaru snapped out of his thoughts in time to hold the jaw open.

Bashamon laughed, breath reeking of constantly burnt and healed over flesh, and the temperature dropped when they pierced the clouds.

The mist was thick, and there were a few flashes of light before they were suddenly bathed in the light of the moon. They were above the storm, and Bashamon actually had an easier time breathing at that altitude than Sesshomaru.

"Now, where did we leave off?" Bashamon asked after Sesshomaru leaped from his maw. Glimmering streams of water fell from Bashamon's body, but the temperature of the atmosphere would still hinder him.

Sesshomaru shouldn't be thinking about that though. His mind was still caught up in what to do. He had a feeling that he shouldn't kill him, but rather that he should take him prisoner. But that was a ridiculous thought. You can't simply control someone like that.

"What useless plan could you be formulating?" Bashamon asked, sounding a tad bored as Sesshomaru parried yet another attack and dodged a stream of flame. He needed time. He either had to make a decision now or avoid wearing himself out in battle. And Tenseiga's damnable vibrating was **not** helping! Sometimes the passing idea of the sword speaking actually seemed promising...

Dodging the tail, which seemed thrown out just to see how aware Sesshomaru was of his surroundings, he decided to take Bashamon's life. He had no means by which to bind the demon, certainly not for five hundred years, and he would make such efforts for what? He didn't want to think about it, and quite frankly he didn't have to, because some friendly barbs were trying to grip his skin in a manner of _un_friendly greeting.

"Planning on the ways to kill someone a second time," Sesshomaru informed, lifting his sword before himself. Apparently the dragon did not consume Tetsusaiga or anything of the nature to obtain its powers, so Sesshomaru would have fun seeing how Bashamon enjoyed his own treatments. "Adamant Barrage!"

Tenseiga layered itself in crystal, and at a swing released a wave of diamonds straight for Bashamon. Several pierced his thick scales easily, one actually striking near the heart in his throat if not through it, and Tenseiga nearly jumped from Sesshomaru's slowly numbing grasp on it with how it shook.

Fine. No more toying.

Sesshomaru held the blade straight out, watching the white crystals meld themselves down into red scales. The attack which frightened Sesshomaru the most on his last night in the future. The youki absorption.

Bashamon looked astounded when he began transforming down to his humanoid self, his energy being drawn from his body and soul and into Tenseiga. What the sword did with it Sesshomaru didn't know, but so long as it left his foe and the Jewel remained pure he was fine with it.

"What is this?!" Bashamon demanded, watching his hands as the scales slowly sank into his flesh. For some reason the Shikon no Tama within him did not lend its powers. Good.

"Your demise," Sesshomaru informed. He watched as the man slowly lost control over his ability to levitate and went careening for the earth. He followed.

"Damn you!" Bashamon hollered, trying to shoot whatever energy remained in him up at Sesshomaru. Tenseiga savored it, but not as much as Sesshomaru savored watching Bashamon slam back-first into the ground. He was barely powerful enough to survive it in this condition.

The battle around them was at a pause, demons staring through the downpour to see what would happen from where they stood twenty feet away.

"So," Bashamon commented, the blood most likely coming from the back of his head. He regarded Sesshomaru through slitted eyes, avoiding the rain, "like this?"

Sesshomaru made no reply, being pissed off enough to have to kill this miserable demon who destroyed his reputation effortlessly and who sent him into the future to know suffering in more ways than even an aristocratic assassin could imagine, and surprisingly even more angered by his father's heirloom still quaking violently, he unceremoniously performed the youketsu cutting by sinking Tenseiga into Bashamon's heart.

Instant death was far preferred over the shocked and shaky inhale the demon gave. Something was wrong... He should be _dead, _not _shocked_!

Tenseiga stilled, but something pulsed. Sesshomaru watched as the Shikon no Tama, possessor of thousands of demons and one miko, reached down through the mystical blade and coated Bashamon in an apparently agonizing energy, grabbing its apparently younger self and dissolving it. The screaming was nigh unbearable, but soon enough the Jewel withdrew its energy, and Bashamon was no longer the demon he once was.

The Shikon no Tama, or more plausibly the miko Midoriko, had stolen his soul. How utterly unpredictable. It made Sesshomaru laugh at how simply hilarious that was.

Bashamon was petrified, and instinctively rolled away. He passed through the blade, and felt at his chest as he was leaned back onto an unsteady hand.

"Bashamon," Sesshomaru began, still smiling. This was beautiful, and apparently a smiling inugami daiyōkai was terrifying for demons as well as mikos. "Your soul and powers have been sealed indefinitely."

Bashamon was baffled. Flabbergasted. Surprised, really. Then, extremely angry.

"I will slaughter you!" he hollered, standing none-too-quickly and drawing a blade. Or, tried to. His hand passed straight through it.

"While in such a condition," Sesshomaru informed, not phased by the 'threat' in the least, "you will only exist as an image, and shall remain imprisoned for the rest of your unnatural days."

This didn't go over too smoothly, but with the Jewel's energy simply twisting Bashamon's soul at Sesshomaru's slightest whim there wasn't much he could do but break down twenty agonizing minutes later to plead for death. After that, the 'war' was over, and the north and south were most likely informed of the victory by the cheer which Sesshomaru's men released.

Bashamon, now soul-bound to a certain proximity from the Shikon no Tama, remained at Sesshomaru's side, harmless and completely humiliated and ashamed, as he greeted his uncle for the first time in centuries.

"I see you have yourself a pet," he commented as soldiers fresh from China disembarked on the western coast.

"A prisoner of war would be more fitting," Sesshomaru informed. "Ryūkotsusei's younger brother."

"Ah," the Inu no Taisho's brother replied, keeping a serious expression. "Good to know he is in capable hands. I see my men have arrived in time for the cleanup?"

Sesshomaru nodded. That they did. Crossing in ships tended to be a slow form of travel for demons, but ships would be needed to send any lizards, whose bodies Sesshomaru preferred to not litter the ocean with, back to the very southern islands above Australia. It would take around a year to gather them all and transport them to their proper home, but it was better than having bored troops wander the countryside.

Sesshomaru's mother was able to greet her brother-in-law, whom she could barely stand being around, once before he needed to return to his lands, but he left Sesshomaru ample forces to control the new lands he had just conquered. Small battles in individual cities would occur for about a month longer, but those were nothing.

A week after all of the political technicalities were properly handed off to Sesshomaru's council, practically with the wave of an uncaring hand and by handing over Tenseiga for Bashamon's warding to be done without him, he left.

Unfortunately an ecstatic toad accompanied him.

"What is here, my Lord?" he asked curiously when Sesshomaru arrived near the edge of Edo outside of a familiar shrine. "My Lord?"

Sesshomaru opened the doors of both the shrine and the well, and looked into its depths. He could sense it. How utterly still the well was.

"My Lord, my I ask why we are here?"

Sesshomaru closed the well. Apparently the Jewel was needed again.

* * *

**A/N:** Twenty six pages!! TWENTY SIX!! I hope to NEVER, EVER write a chapter that long EVER again!!

On a saner note, sorry for the huge delay in updating! I hope this chapter was at least alright, and possibly answered a few questions/tied things together (yes, I have been planning out this chapter for a very long time, sorry to keep so many of you guessing).

I would personally be bored reading this at some parts, but I tried to make it interesting/informal let alone entertaining (which is really hard without a certain insane woman around). ... I'll just give the bull-crap excuse that it is suppose to show how utterly boring formality can be.

Also, I know that was not the best battle scene. I admittedly suck at them and had to listen to Engel by Rammstein on loop for four days to get that one scene right (I'm neither advertising nor joking).

So, yeah! I had to get my mind out of this chapter more than once, so hopefully the next will be posted tomorrow'ish, or in two days. :D But, I dunno, we'll see. It contains a few surprises.

I hope you enjoyed reading! Review please!


	21. His Solitude

**A/N:** Even if you hate these things, please read the author's note at the end of this chapter. It's more detailed than this one. :P

P.S. Don't hate me... Everything happens for a reason, I promise!

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**His Solitude**

Apparently the Jewel was not needed again, because a year had passed now since the well last functioned to allow Sesshomaru back into his own time.

A whole year, and _still_ he awoke in his o-shiro after a long dream about a particular woman. Not that he was complaining, he actually slept every other night now because of them.

He rolled over, allowing the sunlight to warm his face, and sighed. It had been a good dream. He'd have to find a one night stand to get those thoughts out of his head. He had resorted to as much several times before, but no one was good enough. No woman could match the one lodged so comfortably in his mind, and after so many months he would feel rather immature refusing to admit that she was there to stay. He had already come to terms with the fact that he missed her being around, and at this rate he was more than determined to survive five hundred years to see her again.

"M, good morning," came a sultry voice.

Sesshomaru slowly sat up and looked over, the sheets sliding down his naked torso and into his lap. "You are dismissed," he informed the demoness he had bedded the night before. She was a wolf demon, but they were not related closely enough in species to conceive an heir.

Still, some females had the audacity to dream.

"Now, now," she pouted, stalking closer to the bed and slowly beginning to fold open her kimono once more. "No need for such a tone."

She stopped suddenly when his demon energy flared dangerously from his body. "Do not forfeit your life over my needing to repeat myself."

She fully dressed while he remained in bed, daydreaming of things other than lordship duties, and stormed off and out of the room. She had black hair like he remembered, but that was all that was similar... He wondered how much her human self had changed in a year. Was her hair longer? Was womanhood settling in the curves of her body?

"Graceful, Sesshomaru..."

He lifted his arm off his eyes to see his mother, then lowered it again to ignore her.

"Dear, why not seek a mate in China?" she inquired with a sigh from the doorway. "Certainly these women are nothing worth your time. They apparently are not even worth keeping as consorts."

"Indeed not," he replied. Their bodies soothed the needs of his, but nothing more. It was a temporary solution to a long term issue. Perhaps finding a crude-mannered inu in China would be best, but he really didn't want to go through the hassle of mate hunting yet; he simply had no desire to. Consorts would be useful though...

Sesshomaru listened as his mother's hand swished through the air, dismissing the servants who trailed her, and slid the door shut. Her feet padded closer, and with a sigh she sat on the edge of his elevated bed. She sighed at him a lot of late. "Dear, I-"

"I do not wish to hear it," he growled.

"- can not help but think that you have already chosen a mate."

This time he did look at her. "Ridiculous. If so, she would be here," he lowered his arm again, "and I would be doing better things than entertaining your inquiries."

"Well, one would certainly hope," his mother replied softly with a forlorn note. "I do plan to see at least a dozen grandchildren by the time I die."

Sesshomaru smirked. He wondered if that many would drive a certain miko further into insanity... Not that he sought her as a mate, he just sought her. Which, really, did not make a wit of sense.

His mother made a face. "I _know_ there is someone on your mind. You will not find consorts because you want no one wooing you, and you will not find inus because they would bear you your first child. So who is she?"

Like hell he'd admit that much. He simply wasn't interested in a mate, he just wanted her company.

"She is a human?"

He sighed this time. "She does not exist."

"You killed her then?"

"No."

"Then she lives in a different time?"

He glared at her from under his arm.

"Do not underestimate your mother," the insufferable woman scolded him.

"The thought never crossed my mind," he replied, dragging himself from bed.

"My kami, have the decency to dress!" she barked when the sheets fell from his person.

He stretched, not minding her discomfort in the least. It was only his backside anyway. "Admire your work, mother," he joked.

She now had on a bored expression as he threw on a yukata and tied it sloppily but sufficiently shut.

"Where are you off to dressed like that?" she inquire.

"To bathe," he informed. He needed to wash the smell of wolf from himself. Walking out and snapping his fingers once had half the maids fall in behind to service him. "Be sure to notify me of anything you fail to attend to, mother."

The bath was nice, but all it proved to do was cleanse and give him time to sulk inside. He didn't know that what Sheng referred to as purgatory could extend into the past and last.

"Chiro," came a voice, which Sesshomaru recognized as belonging to his mother's main maid.

"Yes?" asked the pretty brown haired girl attending to Sesshomaru at the moment.

"Come."

She left. Damn. They had been having a good conversation too.

The rest of that day was uneventful. After spending time with Sheng and taking care of treaties, Sesshomaru ended up visiting Rin at the revived demon slayer's village. He was an infrequent oddity there, but most of the slayers who came from other villages tolerated his presence.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" the slightly taller girl cheered, hopping off a porch where she was talking to Kohaku and running for him. Sesshomaru smiled at the child he had come to think of as a daughter, and didn't mind her jumping at him with an embrace. He'd have raised her himself, but to do such would guarantee a hard life for her as a human. "Lord Sesshomaru! I'm starting to take lessons!"

"Oh?" he asked. She eagerly showed him the tiny wooden version of a katana at her hip, and began to spar with Kohaku. Sesshomaru smiled inside. It reminded him of that day a tad more than a year ago, just involving different people. Rin had become the ward of the village a week after she arrived with Kohaku, mostly because everyone loved her within that time. She was welcome to stay in any residence any night she wished, and since Sango was a new mother she made rotations amongst different families, usually amongst the ones with children her age. She preferred Kohaku's presence though.

Sesshomaru stayed until sunset and gave Rin a little blue kimono to celebrate her birthday in. It was still a week off, but she loved presents.

By the time he returned home there was something different. The servants didn't allow their sights to linger on him, and it was so obvious that it was unnerving. What was the sudden change?

"Ah, Sesshomaru!" his mother greeted him when he walked past the room she occupied with Shu Fang. "Do be sure to appreciate the gift in your room, dear. It was rather hard to prepare."

... A gift? He never received a 'gift' from that woman in his entire life; which was exceptionally long. He was suspicious when he opened the door to his room, but there was no artifact. Instead, something shifted on his bed.

"Chiro?" he asked, looking at the shy inu youth. She was barely old enough to begin searching for a mate, so why was she here?

"My lord," she greeted, quickly lowering her barely clad self into a formal bow on the floor. She was dressed, but in sheer silks which hid nothing.

"Chiro, what are you doing here?" he asked. "Get some proper clothes on, your mother will be wanting you back soon."

"My mother has approved of what has transpired," the girl replied, facing the floor still. "I am here for your delight, my lord."

His brow furrowed, and stepping closer he ordered the girl to stand. She did, and unfolding her robe revealed a vertical pink scar running from her dark lower hairline to her bellybutton, and the sight angered him.

"My lord?" the girl inquired, watching him leave his own room in a fit of rage.

"Mother!" he yelled while she took another sip of tea. Shu Fang decided to stay out of this verbal transaction by averting her eyes. "What abomination have you created!"

"Oh, do not call her _that_," she scolded. "I felt bad even calling her a gift."

He leveled a glare at her. How dare she take away that child's life for him? "What have you done?"

She looked at him with her head slightly cocked to the side, as though confused that he should be angry. "I have given my son a remarkable gift! A sterile bed partner is what every young lord could use when in your shoes. ... She did not mind, I made sure of that."

"You mean you _ordered_ her to not mind?" he asked, slamming his hands on the table. For some reason he knew his accusation was off, but he really wanted to vent. His actions would seem odd, royalty giving a damn about what happened to a servant, but he did.

His mother made small tuts. "Temper, temper." She lowered her voice so that even he was hard pressed to hear her. "No wonder that human refused you."

"My Lord!" the captain of the guard yelled when Sesshomaru seized his mother by the neck. Shu Fang took the sight in stride with a sip of tea.

"You cannot change what happened," the woman in his grip told him with a croak, nails inserting themselves into his hand and arm. "Do not make her sacrifice useless."

...

She was right...

His mother took a long haul of breath when she was deposited to the ground.

"Do something like this again," he began, refusing to look at her. "And your life is mine."

She began to laugh dryly at him as he left. She laughed because she had won.

Sesshomaru didn't bed Chiro that night. Nor the night after. He felt like her forced sterility was his fault. Eventually though, they unofficially mated, and it became a regular activity, but neither of them saw the other as anything but friends. They talked more often than not, and after another year of the well refusing to function Sesshomaru let slip the miko.

"What's she like?" Chiro asked, lounging comfortably in full nude on his bed. He was reading some finer detail squabble from natives about the eastern islands being occupied by the birds, but she got him to stop easily enough. She sneaked a hand familiarly under his collar, stroking his chest with small patterns. Her full attentions felt nothing like the accidental touch the miko had given him before they kissed, and were nothing in comparison. It was welcomed nonetheless though, let alone expected from a consort.

"She is the most annoying person which fate decided to grace me with," he answered simply, setting the scroll aside.

"You lie," Chiro giggled, her knee teasing its way between his. Her yellow eyes were vivid against her dark locks.

"It would be nice if I were," he replied, watching her face disappear as she began planting kisses up his neck. No flames ignited through his veins at her touch...

"Fine then," she continued between kisses, now sucking his earlobe. He hated that... "What did she look like?"

He frowned. He didn't know where to begin. "She has dark blue eyes, which capture the highlight of her hair."

"And?" Chiro puffed into his ear, giggling when he had to rub it.

"She is fair skinned, and blushes easily..."

"Go on," she whispered, making him close his eyes by kissing them. Her fingers brushed his chest lightly, but it didn't tickle. "I want you to imagine her."

"You want something of your lord?"

"Yes," she replied, her seemingly cool breath hitting his cheek when she cupped his face and kissed him.

No kiss was ever the same...

"Her facial expressions were phenomenal," he continued when Chiro moved on. "Especially when she was surprised, or affronted. Her anger was the best."

"All being your doing?" she asked, her hand stroking his side under his clothing. He almost felt numb to her, like his body refused to acknowledge her touch.

"Usually," he replied, smirking at the memories. "Well, preferably."

"You must have made her life hell," his consort commented, licking up the middle of his chest and failing to summon the growls he gave while dreaming.

"Do unto others," was all he said to that.

He sighed.

"I know that sigh," Chiro stated, stopping her attentions on him.

"I know you know that sigh."

She smiled. "I believe you are a tad obsessed, my lord."

"Obsessed?"

Chiro nodded. "Think about it. It has been two years, and you sigh like that daily."

She had a point. One he pondered out for _another_ two years and some months. She was wrong, it was more than daily...

"Do we bore you, my lord?"

Sesshomaru, who was currently staring at the table, looked up. The council members were still there, he wasn't in the shrine in the future.

"Continue," he ordered, doing his best to stay focused while Sheng and Shu Fang smirked over his little emotional crisis. His mind had a greater tendency to wander of late, which made for the intriguing rumor that he was lovesick. What a ridiculous notion... Still, four years had passed... And he thought he could go for five hundred without any mental taxation. The seasons seemed to have slowed in their passing, and every second that went by was noticed. It was like listening to the snow fall outside, which it did in ample amounts. Every flake was insignificant, but it added to the weight which the ground had to bear. He was done with bearing time.

Within five minutes of the council continuing their discussion on a boarder shift, whether they wanted a new village which was intersecting it or give it over to the north, Sesshomaru began muddling in his thoughts again.

"Dear," his mother addressed him. He looked up again, blinking away the sight of blue eyes to see the woman in the council room. "Come with me, please."

Freedom...

He stood, the council bowing to him, and left.

"Son," his mother began, sighing. "You need to either find her, or find someone else."

After four years, he was done pretending that she didn't know his secret. "Impossible."

"Can you?" she asked. He glared at her, and she sighed. "You are so much like your father... Oh, stop that awful growling, you are not an animal."

She certainly knew how to get on his nerves.

"I just have to know. Did she ever love you, son? I cannot bear to think that all of this is for something unrequited."

... That was a cruel and random question. Despite that, he could only roll his shoulders in reply. She had been very shy and standoffish about the minimal contact they had so long ago, but that would change.

She gave him a flat stare. "I stand corrected. You _are_ your father..."

"Better him than a fool."

"Oh, but a fool you are," she replied. "Human lives are short and needy. She has probably found someone else by now."

He thought as much. An insurmountable amount of times. He refused to believe it though.

There was a set of running feet then, and the two of them turned to look curiously at a guard.

"My Lord!" the messenger exclaimed, bowing. He stood and continued. "A scout has reported!"

"A _scout_?" Sesshomaru's mother asked incredulously. "Sesshomaru, we have scouts set out??"

"Where is he?" Sesshomaru demanded. He headed to the soldier's location within the o-shiro immediately.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" the scout, who happened to be a woman, yelled when she saw him. She looked completely worn out from her travels back to the castle. "By the village. A miko suddenly appeared by the village!"

"A **miko**?!" his mother shrieked, somewhat horrified. "**SESSHOMARU!!**"

Despite being in full transformation and flying off now, Sesshomaru managed a smile. Was it her? Perhaps she was not in the village any longer? Traveling such a distance would take the scout at least three days, if she ran. She could have moved on by then.

In an hour Sesshomaru was there, transforming to his normal appearance to walk into the village. Tenseiga hummed at his master's hip, the Shikon no Tama sparkling within the scabbard. It was quite the relief that Bashamon's binding was transferred to a fixated and untouchable series of sutras, at the cost of being strengthened every month. Priests created the binding papers, but Sesshomaru was the one to strengthen them. That was fine, he didn't mind a monthly visit to gage Bashamon's slow decent into insanity.

"Ah, Sesshomaru-sama."

It was an elder who greeted him, the little sister of Kikyo. They watched as a young villager woman dropped her things and grabbed her child to run away. Sure the village miko was facing a demon, but her bow was slung harmlessly and neither were frowning.

"May I ask what draws you here, lord?" the elder inquired, completely at ease around him.

"Has a foreign miko visited?" he asked discretely.

The old woman blinked at him. "That would depend on what you mean by 'foreign'."

"One who does not live here."

She nodded then, and it felt like his heart made an acrobatic movement. "She has already taken her leave though. Do you know of the Slayer's Village between here and those mountains?"

Sesshomaru followed the pointed finger. He knew it well. Rin had already celebrated her eleventh year there.

But... Despite himself, he had to be sure. "Does the miko go by the name Kagome?"

The elder smiled, which seemed an infrequent expression on her face. "That she does."

He was gone by the time she smiled.

Kagome. Kagome was here. In this time. Now. It was odd how happy he felt.

Tenseiga pulsed at Sesshomaru's side, still bearing the essence of the Shikon no Tama. The sword had been wanting to be rid of the Jewel for some time now, but no one could remove it. Well, Sesshomaru had a feeling no one _could_ remove it.

As the sun tilted closer towards the horizon the snow began to fall again, raining silently in the woods. It was fine though, he had caught her scent already. Although he was delighted by the smell of her, he was confused. There were pheromones laced through the air, and he found himself angered that they had been summoned without him in her presence.

Not that he should be. She wasn't going to be his mate or anything.

For some reason his anger spiked when he sensed his half brother nearby, and approaching a clearing the red glare of fire rat fur had him stop.

Tenseiga pulsed, feeling a tad nervous. He ignored it and focused through the snow. If not for her black hair, he would have missed seeing the miko. She was wrapped in the hanyou's arms, and was pulling her face back from his...

Sesshomaru didn't know what to think. Mentally, he told himself that she was free to kiss whomever she wished, for she was indeed in her prime now. Emotionally though, he was thrown from some high pinnacle he didn't know he stood on.

"I'm sorry," he heard her slightly deeper voice whisper to the hanyou. "I had to be sure of something."

Sesshomaru... He didn't want to be there. He didn't know why either, but he had to go. He couldn't look at her, he felt too... Angry? He was mad? ... No, it wasn't anger... Some of it was...

Tenseiga tugged at his sash, and he glared at the blade. Grabbing the sheath he removed the sword from his sash, dropped it, and left. He was done with it. He hadn't used it for four years, and had sought being rid of the Shikon no Tama which only the miko could utilize now.

Inuyasha turned around at the noise, and Sesshomaru was gone. He was miles away before his mind began to work again, and he didn't like what it was telling him.

He was sad. That was the emotion. He was extremely sad, and it was twisted with treachery. Neither of those made any sense though. He should have been happy to see her. He _was_ happy to see her. But he didn't want to see that... What did he want to see then? It wasn't as though he loved her...

He simply couldn't...

...

...

... Could he?

* * *

**:IMPORTANT!!: THIS IS ****NOT**** THE END!!**

**A/N:**I hope everyone read that. **Read the last paragraph of this A/N for details**. :D

For whatever reason (of which there are a variety) I'm sorry if you feel like the fanfic is going to suddenly be boring/depressing/not worth your time/done; because those feelings are an utter **lie**. Like hell I'd let that happen, I have spent TOO much time on this to have it turn to crap. If anything, I'm going to make the next part better. And yes, I said next part, for this one is now over. Yes, you read correctly. I do NOT want to have a sixty chapter story, so I'm making the next part as a sequel.

Why? ... Because I could. Hah. :P

One of the main reasons, actually, is because the POV is changing over to a familiar miko. :D I feel I'm better at women point of views (as it is I am one...) but don't worry, switching over won't alter the pleasure of them interacting in a bad way. Hopefully, it'll be better.

So, yes! Look for chapter 'twenty two' under **Midwinter Dream** in my stories section, because it's there **right** now!! I hope to not break up stories again, and the only reason I do would be for story length. I hate long stories. I don't care how many reviews it gets, if it's over twenty chapters I usually skip reading it, so there is a sequel now! Besides, for those of you wanting a break, here it is! Take it!


	22. Notice

**'Chapter 22'**

**The Notice For Those Who Missed It**

The story doesn't stop here...

I know it's bad to update something that is not a chapter, but I was looking over my story stats and noticed that a LOT of people don't know that this story continues as a sequel. I have also gotten too many PM's asking why I stopped the story there and won't update, so for anyone who read this and was excited for a new chapter, guess what? This isn't it. :P There's a whole new story you're missing out on, and it is called Midwinter Dream.

There. No one should have overlooked this... If someone did, they are quite blind.

Sorry for those of you who have already been reading M.D. and still have S.F. under their alerts. This 'chapter' must have been odd. :P

Please don't review... It would be rather unnecessary... Enjoy the continued story though, should you choose to! :D

- AD


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